Coal Transition in the NETHERLANDS

The document examines the Dutch coal experience, starting with the state-managed closure of domestic mines in Limburg (1965-1974) driven by the discovery of natural gas and political shifts. It details the social engineering and subsidies used to transition 75,000 workers, noting that while the region eventually diversified, the process was lengthy and marked by economic crises. The study then analyzes the 'return of coal' in the 1970s, where policy shifted toward imported coal to diversify energy security after the oil crises, leading to a lasting reliance on coal-fired power plants. It concludes that current climate targets and court rulings now clash with this path-dependency, creating a risk of stranded assets in modern coal plants.

• The first coal transition in the Netherlands was characterized by the state-managed closure of domestic collieries in the Limburg region from 1965 to 1974, which was accelerated by the 1959 discovery of Europe's largest natural gas field.
• The closure of domestic mines was a pre-emptive policy action rather than a purely market-driven inevitability, influenced by the social-democratic views of Minister Den Uyl, who considered mining 'inhumane'.
• The social transition of the mining workforce involved moving approximately 50,000 miners between 1965 and 1975, with 41% finding external employment and 17% moving directly to pensions or disability benefits in the first phase.
• Reconversion of the Limburg region was a costly, 25-year process ending in 1990, with subsidies peaking during the crisis period of the 1970s and some evidence suggesting 'network criminality' in infrastructural spending.
• Coal experienced a revival in the Netherlands starting in the late 1970s, not through domestic mining but via imports for electricity generation to diversify energy sources following the oil crises.
• Dutch energy policy from 1979 actively promoted the 'substitution-fiction', attempting to increase the share of coal in power generation to 40% by 2000, despite coal being more expensive than gas at the time.
• The Netherlands developed a global leadership position in coal-related research, specifically in above-ground gasification and carbon capture and storage (CCS), though onshore CCS faced public opposition.
• The ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam became strategic hubs for the coal sector, with Rotterdam and Amsterdam remaining the first and second largest coal harbours in Europe.
• Current Dutch energy policy faces a conflict between the continued use of modern coal-fired plants and the need to meet climate targets from the Paris Agreement and the Urgenda-ruling.
• The investment in new coal plants has been described internationally as 'the Dutch Coal Mistake' due to the risk of these facilities becoming stranded assets.

APA

Gales, B., & Hölsgens, R. (2017). Coal Transition in the NETHERLANDS. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/COAL_NL_v04.pdf

Chicago

Gales, Ben, and Rick Hölsgens. Coal Transition in the NETHERLANDS. Climate Strategies, 2017. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/COAL_NL_v04.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gales |first1=Ben |last2=Hölsgens |first2=Rick |title=Coal Transition in the NETHERLANDS |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=2017 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/COAL_NL_v04.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gales2017coal, author = {Gales, Ben and Hölsgens, Rick}, title = {{Coal Transition in the NETHERLANDS}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2017}, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/COAL_NL_v04.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }