A majority of the party leaders of the Provincial Council want an external investigation into the licensing of the Amer power station in Geertruidenberg. This became clear on Monday evening during a meeting of those group leaders in the presidium. Only GroenLinks, PvdA and CDA were skeptical. Various parties in the Provincial Council have been asking for such an investigation for some time.
The Amer power station in Geertruidenberg emits more nitrogen since biomass is fired. Although permits have actually become stricter, a calculation trick by the province has made it possible to emit more nitrogen.
In 2019, the power station received a permit from the province to burn biomass (wood), and it is also allowed to emit much more nitrogen than came out of the chimney when it was still running on coal and gas. When that permit was issued, it was actually claimed that less nitrogen would be released with a legal trick: the province included an oven that had in fact been out of use for a few years.
Judge intervenes
By including these in the permit, the Amer power station was given more room for nitrogen emissions than was allowed, according to the judge. The court therefore annulled the permit on 2 December 2021. The Province should have made a new decision on the granting of permits by the middle of this year.
Parties in the Provincial Council are particularly outraged about the information provided at that time. From documents requested by, among others, Willem Rutjens of JA21, the German parent company RWE seems to have exerted considerable pressure on directors and officials to approve the license application. In addition, there are major questions as to whether the Provincial Executive has shared all information with the Provincial Council about the entire permit process.
“This case smells, and not of nitrogen,” says Rutjens, “the juggling with nitrogen figures, the hasty pushing through of the permit… It is time to clarify what happened here.”
Nitrogen targets
Any new permit granting is particularly sensitive now that the central government is making far-reaching plans to tackle nitrogen emissions in provinces. The plan of Minister van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) states that nitrogen targets will be agreed with provinces in order to halve emissions by 2030.
At the beginning of May, it should be clear per province which nature is in the worst condition and what measures are needed to restore that nature. The Amercentrale is located right next to Natura2000 area De Biesbosch. Models have shown that the nitrogen emitted by the Amer power station does not only settle there, but also far beyond.
Buy out farmers
Minister Van der Wal’s plans have major consequences for farmers in Brabant. Farmers are allowed to stop voluntarily, but there is a fee in return. If this results in insufficient nitrogen reduction, farmers could eventually be expropriated.
With far-reaching measures of this kind in sight, it is impossible to explain an incorrectly granted permit for the Amer power station and the associated high nitrogen emissions, according to parties in PS.
Research
The Southern Court of Audit was also present at the meeting of the group chairmen on Monday evening. That is the joint audit office for the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg. They investigate from an independent position whether the province spends money carefully.
PS cannot instruct the Court of Auditors to carry out such an investigation, the Court of Auditors must decide for itself. The court announced its intention on Monday evening. The final decision will be made in three weeks.