Eneco is of the opinion that the Energy Covenant that the government concluded with the energy sector in October 2008, leaves too little room for the development of sustainable energy. Eneco wants a covenant that goes further and offers more possibilities for the development of sustainable energy. Stricter, result-oriented commitments by both the government and the industry are required to achieve better facilitation of sustainability. Eneco will not sign an agreement until that situation occurs.
Full argumentation
In October 2008, the government signed an agreement with the energy sector with the aim to advance the energy and climate objectives set for the year 2020. Eneco immediately indicated that it does not agree with the Covenant because it leaves too little room for the development of sustainable energy.
The Energy Covenant includes agreements concerning the development of wind energy at sea and on land, biomass, solar energy, capture and storage of CO2 during electricity production, etc. The Covenant also contains a calendar that indicates what should be achieved by which party at which moment. An annual reduction of energy consumption of 2%, a reduction of CO2 emissions of 30% compared with 1990 and a 20% share of clean energy in 2020.
Eneco is not opposed to an Energy Sector Agreement, but it feels that such an agreement should lead to results. The current agreement is a missed opportunity. The Netherlands should make a better choice! That means choosing for sustainability using gas as the transition fuel, instead of coal plants because that alternative will, in the end, be more expensive. Stricter, result-oriented commitments by both the government and the industry are required to achieve better facilitation of sustainability. Eneco will not sign an agreement until that situation occurs.
Eneco’s main concern about the agreement is that it is not sufficiently based on the principle ‘the polluter pays’ (one of the keystones of the Clean and Efficient programme). As a result, inefficient and polluting energy techniques still have too many advantages in comparison with energy saving, clean and sustainable energy applications. This especially applies to the large extent to which the Netherlands makes itself dependent on the large-scale implementation of new coal plants.