Supplement to the appeal lodged by Groningen authorities against gas decision
On March 13, 2024, the Council of State will hear the appeal filed by the Groningen authorities against the determination decision for the 2023-2024 gas year. For this hearing, the authorities have added supplementary information to the appeal they previously submitted to the Council of State.
The region is doing this because it considers it important that the Council of State also takes this information into account at its hearing on March 13, 2024.
No obligation to achieve results, but an obligation to make efforts for NAM
The authorities believe that the decision should be overturned now that the State Secretary is of the opinion that NAM only has an obligation to extract gas from the Groningen field when the average daily temperature falls below -6.50C. In doing so, the State Secretary is no longer complying with what the cabinet previously agreed, namely that NAM must extract a quantity of gas from the Groningen field determined by the State Secretary in order to avoid problems with security of supply.
Standby power was not needed in January
The decision to activate the Groningen field for two days in January caused considerable social and political unrest. In the letter sent by the State Secretary to the House of Representatives on January 10, 2024, the authorities read that he did have the option of solving the problem of security of supply in a different way than by activating two locations in the Groningen field. According to the Groningen authorities, it was therefore not necessary to bring the field to pilot flame and this should be formulated differently in the decision.
Unclear about the consequences for reinforcement
Now that the Groningen field has been on standby in January and a small amount of gas has been extracted, the Groningen authorities point out that the consequences of this for the reinforcement are unclear. The authorities already pointed out this error in the decision to the State Secretary in June 2023, but the State Secretary has still not taken any action. In addition, the authorities believe that the State Secretary is juggling the figures for reinforcement in his decision.
Assessment of gas decision
The Groningen authorities assess the State Secretary's determination decision for the following gas year on an annual basis. The appeal procedure is being conducted by the province of Groningen, the municipalities of Midden-Groningen, Het Hogeland, Eemsdelta, Groningen, Oldambt, Westerkwartier, Veendam, Pekela, and Westerwolde, the Groningen Safety Region, and the Noorderzijlvest and Hunze en Aa’s water boards. The province sent the supplement to the appeal to the Council of State on behalf of these organizations.