Additionally, the supply of cheap electricity in neighbouring countries rose relatively strongly, which made imports more attractive.

[2][11] The wind capacity installed at the end of 2010 would produce 4.1% of the total electricity in a normal year, while the equivalent value for Germany was 9.4%, Portugal 14%,[12] and Denmark 39% in 2014.

[25] Emissions per capita in the OECD countries exceeded the Netherlands only in the Czech Republic (11.8), Finland (12.2), Canada (17.4), Australia (18.8), the United States (19.1), and Luxembourg (22.4).

[28][29] This agreement was seen as a major breakthrough in the debate about climate change in the Netherlands, because it not only provided a clear set of policies for sustainable growth, but also gathered support from all main stakeholders.

They alleged the Dutch state acted unlawfully by not contributing its proportional share to prevent global warming and won the case.

[31] Although many politicians supported the decision, the government appealed the verdict on the grounds that they questioned the way the court assessed their policy.

[29] In December 2015, a majority of the House of Representatives supported closing all Dutch coal-firing plants in the near future, implying a policy contradiction: closing the additional coal-firing plants would interfere with the execution of the Energy Agreement because it would end the co-firing of biomass.

[28] Some politicians suggested to redirect the initial subsidies for co-firing biomass into compensation to close the new coal-firing plants, while others opposed the plan because they were afraid that it would cost too many jobs.

[29] Nuon, the Dutch subsidiary of the Swedish company Vattenfall, which owns the Hemwegcentrale, stated that it was open to discussion about the closure of the plant.

Essent, the owner of Eemshavencentrale, on the other hand, believed that the closure of the plants would only work counterproductively in reaching the energy goals.

Henk Kamp, the Minister of Economic Affairs, promised that the Dutch government would make a decision by the autumn of 2016.

[27] At the end of January 2017, Minister Kamp sent a letter to the House of Representatives saying that no decision would be made by the incumbent government on the closure of the remaining five coal plants.

They did not agree on a common position, and hence the difficult issue of the coal-fired power stations would be passed over during the elections of 15 March 2017.

[34] On 18 May 2018, Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Eric Wiebes announced that the Netherlands would ban the use of coal in electricity generation by the end of 2029.

Two of the five remaining coal-fired plants (Amercentrale Unit 9 & Hemweg 8) would have to shut down at the end of 2024 unless they switched primary fuels.