Just as the phase-out of nuclear energy and coal is a new topic of debate in Germany, voices in favor of longer natural gas production are being raised in the Netherlands.

The country in the northeastern province of Groningen has been extracting natural gas from the ground for 60 years.

That should actually end this year, because decades of exploitation are causing earthquakes more and more frequently and more violently - with severe damage to houses as a result.

The Ukraine war now raises the question of whether the gas field should continue to serve as a source to replace Russian gas.

Klaus Max Smolka

Editor in Business.

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The government is reluctant to comment, keeping unscheduled further funding open as an emergency solution.

It was a "very, very last resort in the event of a very large conflict that lasts longer," said Energy and Climate Minister Rob Jetten of the left-liberal coalition party D66 shortly after the beginning of the war.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the right-wing liberal VVD expressed it in a similar way.

Industrial consumers want more natural gas

The VEMW association of commercial energy consumers is now moving in this direction.

Turning back the funding freeze is one of the options that "needs to be reconsidered", said VEMW director Hans Grünfeld on Tuesday.

In a public broadcaster survey, a majority was in favor of continuing to purchase natural gas from Groningen if necessary - with many warning that the proceeds would then have to benefit the provincial residents.

There was even a majority among Groningen residents, as the regional newspaper “Dagblad van het Noorden” determined: 61 percent said that if imports from Russia were to be stopped, the gas tap should remain open, at least up to 12 billion cubic meters a year, the amount that three years ago the Mining Inspectorate (staattoezicht op de Mijnen, SodM) deemed it safe under certain conditions.

The Eindhoven energy technology professor David Smeulders appeared as a supporter in several media, proposing a three-stage plan with the proceeds from Groninger gas: 'First use it as compensation for affected Groninger.

Then reinforce the houses there.

And thirdly, look at how you can structurally mitigate earthquakes.” In this way, the extracted natural gas in the ground could be replaced by another gas – namely nitrogen, which would otherwise be necessary as an additive for the use of Russian natural gas.

The Netherlands is currently about 15 percent dependent on natural gas from Russia, which is significantly less than the EU as a whole.

High risk of collapse

The supervisory authority SodM warned against this.

Residents in the development area are at risk of stress and the risk of their houses collapsing.

"Only when gas production has stopped and endangered houses have been strengthened will it be as safe in Groningen as in the rest of the Netherlands," General Inspector Theodor Kockelkoren said.

The 12 billion cubic meters mentioned three years ago as a safe production volume were linked to conditions that are not now being met.

The citizens' initiative GBB (Groninger Bodem Beweging) also rejects an extension.

The Groningen gas field was discovered in 1959, at that time as one of the largest deposits in the world with an estimated 2800 billion cubic meters.

The deposit measures 35 by 25 kilometers, three kilometers below the surface, mainly between the cities of Groningen and Delfzijl.

The vast majority of Dutch households – around 95 percent – ​​are connected to the natural gas grid.

Industry and greenhouses also depend on m natural gas.

It is exported to a few countries, including Germany.

Reserve for "exceptional situations"

The earthquakes have been registered since the mid-1980s, now in the hundreds and tending to get stronger - more than a dozen over 3.0 on the Richter scale.

In 2018, the government announced that natural gas production would be gradually phased out until the 2021/22 “gas year” (until September) – down to a technically necessary minimum, because the field should be available as a reserve for “exceptional situations” such as “extreme cold and disruptions”.

Independent of Russia at the beginning of the year, it became apparent that the exit would be delayed.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced that the subsidy could not be reduced as quickly as planned.

"Germany recently announced that it needs 1.1 billion cubic meters more from Groningen to cover its energy needs," the Ministry of Economic Affairs cited as one reason - and as a second reason that a factory in Zuidbroek was delayed in operation, which produces nitrogen for use in to produce foreign gas.