The commitment is a result of a settlement with several Dutch NGOs following legal challenges. Vattenfall-Nuon will open the coal fired part of the plant only following a series of measures:

–          Vattenfall-Nuon will not bring the coal gasification part of the multi-fuel plant into operation before 2020;

–          If Vattenfall-Nuon takes the coal gasifier into service, the plant as a whole will not emit more CO₂ than 360 grams per kilowatt hour. This is less than half of CO₂-emissions emitted by a regular coal-fired power plant and is equivalent to the emissions performance of a modern gas plant. Vattenfall-Nuon would comply with this CO₂-standard through co-generation of biomass and CO₂ capture and storage (CCS);

–          Should Vattenfall-Nuon apply for a permit for the coal-gasifier the NGOs retain the right to make legal objections;

In return, the NGO’s withdraw their legal efforts against the coal fired powerplant, which according to the NGOs represent a threat to the climate, nature and the air quality of the protected wetland area of the Waddenzee in the North of the Netherlands. With these measures Vattenfall-Nuon is the first major utility to introduce such a binding EPS targets. The NGOs now hope that others will follow the Swedish power giant.

– We call upon other utilities in Europe as well as policy makers to follow this example and to implement an EPS for coal fired power plants on a pan-European scale, said Ron Wit, Head of Climate for the Dutch NGO Natuur & & Milieu, in a press release.

Following amendments to the Industrial Emissions Directive suggested by Bellona and adopted in 2010, it is now clear that Member States are free to introduce greenhouse gas emission limits to installations also when these are covered by the EU Emission Trading Scheme, which is the case for power plants.