Netherlands economy minister Eric Wiebes has announced a new law to help achieve the country’s plan to close all of its five coal-fired power plants by 2030. Under the law, the two plants built in the 1990s, one owned by RWE and one owned by Vattenfall (through its Dutch subsidiary Nuon), are to close by 2024 unless they switch fuels. The country’s newer coal-fired plants, built in the 2010s, will have to close by 2029. Neither RWE nor Vattenfall have been offered compensation for the closures, and RWE for one has baulked at this prospect, issuing a statement which read “We expect significant consequences for our activities…We will contemplate legal action if the law is implemented as currently proposed.” RWE feels particularly aggrieved because the company invested €3.2 billion (US$3.8 billion) in its newest coal-fired plant, in its view at the request of the Dutch government. Vattenfall has said it will abide by the new law, shutting its Hemweg-8 by the end of 2024.