Resource dependence and energy risks in the Netherlands since the mid-nineteenth century

Highlights: • Energy risks have had a major impact on Dutch energy policy since the mid-1800s. • Strategies to cope with these risks as employed are addressed. • Given the importance of coal, the Dutch State established the State Mines in 1901. • Diversification, along with domestic natural gas, reduced risks since the 1980s. • Consensus politics worked for exploitation natural gas, not for current transition. -- Abstract: Even though the Netherlands was well-endowed with domestic resources, but has also been dependent on foreign supplies. From 1850 onward, consumption of imported coal grew quickly. At the turn of the century, politicians became uneasy about this growing dependence. In 1901 the state-owned State Mines were established to exploit domestic coal and production gradually grew. In the interwar period the Netherlands became almost self-sufficient in coal. After WWII, it experienced a fast transition to oil dependence. In 1959 natural gas was discovered in Groningen by Shell and Esso, and the government forced them to join forces with the State Mines in the exploitation. The fast introduction of natural gas diminished the role of coal, but dependence on imported oil remained. The oil crisis triggered a reorientation of the energy policy, with emphasis on diversification in terms of resources and supplier countries. The export of natural gas was reconsidered. Shifts in energy resource consumption in the Netherlands in the past 150 years, were closely related to perceptions of risks. The Dutch government was strongly involved in previous energy transitions and will also have an important role to play in the transition to renewable energy.