News item | 09-02-2024 | 2:30 PM
The expansion of energy infrastructure is necessary to reduce nitrogen emissions from industry. New research shows that nitrogen emissions from the construction of this infrastructure are sometimes ‘recouped’ within one year by making the industry more sustainable. In the coming years, the energy infrastructure throughout the country must be significantly expanded to provide everyone in the Netherlands with power, heat and hydrogen on time. The research commissioned by the Ministry of Economic and Climate (EZK) provides an important basis for accelerating the licensing and construction of energy infrastructure. It is one of the ways in which the Multi-Year Infrastructure Energy and Climate Program (MIEK) is working to accelerate the construction of (sustainable) energy infrastructure projects.
Nitrogen research
Investigating and permitting nitrogen emissions is necessary, but time-consuming and therefore delays the construction of (sustainable) energy infrastructure. This is undesirable because the construction and expansion of energy infrastructure is essential for the sustainability of industry and the development of housing and transport. It is also one of the solutions against the full power grid.
The research shows that sustainable energy infrastructure is necessary to reduce nitrogen emissions from industry. Temporary emissions of nitrogen in Natura 2000 areas due to the construction of energy infrastructure can be ‘recovered’ in the short term by reducing nitrogen emissions by industry. In the longer term, the construction of this infrastructure will result in structurally lower emissions and therefore a positive impact on the environment. A condition for this is that the sustainability projects from the industry are realized. This research provides a basis for accelerating permitting for energy infrastructure projects. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy will work on this together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the coming months.
The delay in the Porthos project, in which CO2 is captured and stored in empty gas fields under the North Sea, is a good example of the impact of the nitrogen problem on energy infrastructure projects. There, a lawsuit over nitrogen emissions caused delays in the granting of permits. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has asked research agency De Essentie to investigate the relationship between the energy transition and nitrogen emissions by industry. The research takes into account the sustainability plans of the large industry clusters and the national energy infrastructure. This concerns TenneT’s high-voltage grid, the places where wind energy is brought from the sea to land, Gasunie’s hydrogen network, hydrogen import initiatives, production of green hydrogen (electrolysers), transport of sustainable raw materials (the Delta Rhine Corridor) and projects to Capture and store CO2 (CCS).
Accelerate the construction of energy infrastructure via the MIEK
The research is one of the ways in which MIEK is looking to accelerate the construction of energy infrastructure. The MIEK has been expanded considerably in the past year. National projects that have been added to the MIEK are a high-voltage cable in the Northern Netherlands, hydrogen terminals in Zeeland and a heating system in South Holland. This means that all parties involved carry out these projects as a priority, so that they are completed on time. Each province has also created a provincial MIEK for their own region. While MIEK started with projects mainly aimed at industry, it has now expanded to the mobility, built environment and agriculture sectors. This further development has created a robust approach that allows the government to direct the programming, prioritization and realization of the infrastructure we need to build the new sustainable energy infrastructure in the Netherlands.
A overview of all MIEK projects can be found at energieprojectennederland.nl.