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Climate minister to tackle soaring city heating scheme costs

Climate minister Rob Jetten is working on emergency legislation to limit the cost of city heating schemes to tenants and home owners, after it emerged some people are facing sharply higher bills after going gas-free, broadcaster NOS said on Friday. “We can make older houses more suitable as well but it is very important that the city heating schemes are …

The cost of building and operating wind farms is much higher than expected, outgoing Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten told the Tweede Kamer. Originally expected to cost 2 billion euros per year, these costs have now risen to 3.6 billion euros per year. Interest costs are expected to "remain structurally higher," Jetten said. However, as the costs mentioned are …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Dutch government unveiled a new package Wednesday to slash carbon emissions by promoting clean energy, sustainable homes and industry and the use of electric cars among other a raft of measures to combat climate change. Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten said the package would cost a total of 28 billion euros in coming years …

Flemish energy minister wants to invest in Dutch nuclear power plants

Flanders may want to participate in the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. The Council of Ministers gave final approval on Friday for the construction of two new nuclear power plants, which should be completed in 2035. While the Dutch Cabinet has embraced nuclear energy as part of the solution to the climate problem, the Belgian …

Two coalition parties have called on energy minister Rob Jetten to offer full compensation to councils that cancelled their contracts with former Russian gas supplier Gazprom. Around 150 customers of Gazprom Energy, which is a subsidiary of Sefe, had already switched suppliers in response to Jetten’s original deadline, usually at much higher energy prices. CU MP Pieter Grinwis said Jetten’s …

Dutch climate minister says Cop27 results are 'extremely disappointing'

Dutch climate minister Rob Jetten has described the lack of progress at the climate talks in Sharm El-sheikh after ‘two difficult weeks’ as ‘extremely disappointing’. ‘This is extremely disappointing.’ The 27th United Nations climate summit, hosted by Egypt, focused on measures to implement current agreements, such as the 1.5 degree limit to global warming, as well as climate adaptation. There …

Energy bill talks continue and a price cap is up for discussion, minister confirms

Ministers are currently in talks with energy companies about measures to keep bills affordable and that could include a price cap, climate minister Rob Jetten told MPs during a debate on Thursday evening. A price cap is just one of the ideas on the table and ‘we do not have the luxury of being able to exclude some measures’, Jetten …

The Netherlands has hit its target of filling its gas reserves to 80% capacity nearly two months early, the energy ministry has confirmed. On Tuesday energy minister Rob Jetten said 120 local authorities who have energy contracts with Gazprom Energy, the Dutch subsidiary of the Russian state energy firm, could have more time to find alternative suppliers. Jetten had previously …

EU countries agree to cut gas usage; By 15%, Dutch Minister says

The 27 European Union countries have agreed to cuts to gas usage in the coming months that should prevent households, companies, and hospitals from being left without heating if Russia decides to stop supply completely. On arrival at the meeting of European climate and energy ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, Minister Rob Jetten said that the EU countries were “close …

Minister Rob Jetten for Climate and Energy is changing the electricity law to give state-owned grid operator TenneT more options to exclude risky companies from tenders. The change is aimed at barring Chinese parties from vital parts of the Netherlands' electricity network, Financieele Dagblad reports based on Jetten's answers to parliamentary questions. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate halted …

Health minister forced to backtrack on quarantine plan after MP protests

Health minister Hugo de Jonge has been forced to backtrack on his plans to introduce compulsory quarantine for people arriving in the Netherlands from risky countries, and for people who come up as potential carriers of coronavirus in contact tracing probes. Following strong criticism from across the political spectrum in Wednesday’s parliamentary debate, De Jonge agreed to first refer the …

Health Minister