The government has neglected other aspects of renewable electricity like air quality and CO2 reduction. When the previous Minister for Economic Affairs Joop Wijn judged that the EU-approved target for the Netherlands of 9% renewable power consumed by 2010 would be met, he stopped the premium support system.

But now the Dutch National Audit Office says the achievement of 9% renewable power by 2010 is not even certain. Most of the renewable power is to come from co-firing biomass in power plants. But the availability of the quantities of biomass needed is uncertain and so is the price, because of the growing demand for energy crops. The Netherlands currently imports a considerable share of its biomass.

The Audit Office also criticises the premium system, which paid a fixed premium to renewables on top of the market price for power. The Audit office concluded that the premium, which was fixed for a period of ten years, was at too high a level. The reviewers recommend coupling the premium to the market price for power.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is currently working on a new version of the MEP to be introduced by June 2008, is taking the recommendations on board and will, in the next version, couple the premium to the market price.