News item | 26-02-2025 | 12:05
Although the demand for natural gas is falling, gas still plays a crucial role in Dutch energy supply. The Netherlands has a well -functioning gas system and has guarantees to absorb sudden disruptions. In the event of a serious disruption, additional government intervention may be necessary. With the proposal for the Fighting Energy supplement crisis (WBE) Act, the government wants to improve the resilience of the gas system and draw up a clear framework for how the government can intervene if necessary. The bill is for consultation from today.
The European internal gas market is strongly interconnected. At the European level, the Gas Property Certainty Regulation made agreements how Member States guarantee the resilience of their gas system and how they deal with an (imminent) gas crisis. With this bill, the Netherlands gives substance to these agreements and its implementation is improved. In the first place by strengthening the functioning of gas system in normal circumstances. Examples are measures for filling gas stores and explicit the responsibility of suppliers to take care of delivery to their end customers, including extreme circumstances (such as a period of extreme cold). This is done through changes to the energy law and the Mining Act. In addition, the proposal provides for powers to be able to take measures quickly and effectively in times of an (imminent) energy crisis. This mainly concerns the measures from the GAS protection and recovery plan. This is done in the Act combating energy supplement crisis.
The bill has been in preparation for some time and is independent of current developments on the gas market. The law is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2027.
You can respond to the bill up to and including 26 March 2025 via www.internetconsultatie.nl/wbe.