by Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM, April 22 (Reuters) – The Netherlands said on Friday it plans to stop using fossil fuels from Russia by the end of the year.
To achieve this objective, the government is counting on energy savings, sustainable energies and the increase in energy imports from other countries.
“In this way, the Netherlands can keep or completely replace the Russian share of its gas by the end of the year,” the government said in a statement.
The Netherlands thus joins other countries of the European Union which plan to reduce their Russian energy supplies after the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow.
Gas accounts for around 44% of Dutch energy consumption – one of the highest rates in Europe – but only around 15% of the gas used by the Dutch comes from Russia, according to government estimates.
The executive said he would support companies financially to help them fill the Bergermeer gas storage site, one of the largest in Europe with a capacity of 4.1 billion meters, before winter. cubes.
The amount of this aid will amount to around 623 million euros, estimates the government, which will ask the public company Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) to ensure that this site is filled to at least 70% of its capacity if companies do not do this despite this support program.
Bergermeer, which accounts for around a third of gas storage capacity in the Netherlands, is 60% owned by Emirati energy group Abu Dhabi National Energy and 40% by EBN.
Russian energy giant Gazprom is entitled to 40% of the site’s storage capacity under an agreement that runs until 2045. In 2021, the Russian group did not use its share. (Report Toby Sterling, French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)
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