A broad coalition of green gas producers, grid operators, provinces, financial institutions, and energy suppliers has called upon the House of Representatives by letter to expedite the legislative proposal for the green gas blending obligation. The signatories fear that the consideration and vote in both Houses will take so much time that implementation as of January 1, 2027, will have to be postponed after all, and request that the law be brought to a vote immediately after the summer recess.
The Cabinet sent the bill to the House of Representatives at the end of May. The proposal was sent to the House for consideration on a Friday by Minister Van Veldhoven of Climate and Green Growth. The measure obliges energy suppliers to purchase an increasing annual share of the gas supplied to businesses and homes as green gas. Green gas is upgraded biogas produced from waste and residual streams, including those from agriculture, the food industry, and wastewater treatment, and which can be fed into the existing gas network without modifications.
The intended effective date is 1 January 2027. That date has already been postponed twice, from 2025 to 2026 and subsequently to 2027. The Council of State issued an opinion on the bill on 18 March 2026; such an opinion is mandatory before a proposal goes to the House of Representatives.
What the coalition argues
In the joint letter dated May 28, the coalition identifies the blending obligation as one of the most important instruments to reduce dependence on imported natural gas. According to the signatories, the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, unrest in the gas markets, and recent price increases demonstrate the vulnerability of the European energy supply. They state that domestically produced green gas reduces this dependency and contributes to more stable prices.
The coalition further argues that a statutory obligation creates stable, long-term demand, thereby providing the investment certainty needed to build up production capacity. It also points to the role of green gas in grid congestion, as, according to the signatories, it places hardly any additional pressure on the power grid. Additionally, scaling up could help reduce nitrogen emissions from agriculture, citing research by Common Futures. At the same time, the parties note that the scaling up of green gas is lagging behind and that the permitting process for projects is stalling.
Time pressure around the summer recess
According to the coalition, the summer recess constitutes the main time crunch. If the process falls short, implementation will automatically be postponed by a year. The signatories cite four consequences of delay: a longer dependence on imported natural gas and LNG, increased electrification while the power grid is already at capacity, higher infrastructure costs, and further delays in sustainability efforts and nitrogen reduction.
Regarding the costs for end users, the coalition refers to a study by CE Delft, which, according to the letter, results in limited additional costs. The precise implementation of the obligation, such as the annual percentages, will be laid down later through lower-level regulations.
The letter is signed by, among others, Vattenfall, Eneco, Engie, RWE, Shell, Energie Nederland, the NVDE, Gasunie, Netbeheer Nederland, Stedin, Alliander, Enexis, Rabobank, and the provinces of Limburg, Overijssel, Drenthe, and North Brabant. The coalition asks the House to start the deliberation as soon as possible so that suppliers can process the decision-making in a timely manner.
Source: Green Gas Platform
Photo: kyrychukvitaliy, Adobe Stock
