The Netherlands is banning coal for power generation in the next decade and will shut all of its coal-fired power plants by 2030, Reuters reported May 18.
Economy Minister Eric Wiebes announced Friday that coal plants built in the 1990s will be closed by the end of 2024, and newer plants will be closed by 2029 unless they switch to other energy sources.
The government is initially targeting five plants owned by Germany's RWE AG and Sweden's Vattenfall AB — two that have been operational since 1994 and three built in 2015 and 2016.
RWE, which operates one of the newer coal-fired plants, said the decisions do not offer compensation for the coal ban and for the €3.2 billion it invested in its newest plant at the request of the government.
"We will contemplate legal action if the law is implemented as currently proposed," the company said in a statement, according to the newswire.
