Dutch work on emergency plan as Ukraine crisis threatens gas supplies

The Dutch government is meeting with industrial gas users to work out an emergency plan to safeguard critical energy supplies in the event escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine triggers a shortage. The Netherlands, which relies heavily on gas for heating, electricity and industrial manufacturing, receives roughly 15% of its gas from Russia and the rest from Norway, industry sources said.


Reuters | Updated: 27-01-2022 17:14 IST | Created: 27-01-2022 16:42 IST
Dutch work on emergency plan as Ukraine crisis threatens gas supplies
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

The Dutch government is meeting with industrial gas users to work out an emergency plan to safeguard critical energy supplies in the event escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine triggers a shortage.

The Netherlands, which relies heavily on gas for heating, electricity, and industrial manufacturing, receives roughly 15% of its gas from Russia and the rest from Norway, industry sources said. A gas supply plan was first devised in 2019 after the nation that had exported gas for decades became a net importer.

Now, the details are being revised as Europe fears Russia's massive troop build-up on the border of Ukraine could result in gas supply shocks. Government officials told the Dutch parliament last week that supplies will be sufficient for normal winter use, but not for a prolonged shortage.

"We have been meeting industrial associations for several weeks to discuss to what extent we can minimize social consequences if they had to cut back the use of gas," Economic Ministry spokesman Tim van Dijk said. "By collecting this information, we want to be prepared in case we do need to take action." An escalation of violence in Ukraine "would have a major impact on the European market and the Netherlands and if it were to last weeks, this plan could be implemented," he said.

Van Dijk said meetings with individual companies will start this week. "Turning off an industrial user, that is not something that can be done with the flip of a switch. It can have great consequences and can lead to dangerous situations," said Hans Grünfeld, head of VEMW, an association for industrial energy users. "It can lead to irreparable damage in the production, in the machines."

He said the 60 biggest companies could reduce energy use in a crisis, but also needed clarity on what financial compensation they would receive in the event of any business losses. The 2019 plans foresee first asking the general public to reduce use, for example by turning down heating, while companies would be asked to switch to other energy sources. Should the crisis be acute, the industrial users could be asked to halt the use of gas entirely.

Roughly 40% of Dutch energy is sourced from gas. In 2020, 45% went to electricity generation, 28% to the heating of buildings and homes and 21% was used by industry.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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