The Dutch village at risk from an energy project

Summary

Business Daily — The Dutch Village at Risk from an Energy Project

Date: April 12, 2026
Host: Anna Holligan (BBC World Service)
Theme:
A compelling exploration of the village of Moerdijk in the Netherlands, facing potential erasure to make way for a massive energy infrastructure project—showcasing the human costs at the intersection of global clean energy ambitions and local lives.

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Overview

In this episode, Anna Holligan investigates how the urgent global push for clean energy collides with personal and communal identities, as Moerdijk—a small Dutch village—is placed at the heart of a national debate. The government’s proposal could demolish the village to create space for power lines, pylons, and industry that will harness renewable energy from North Sea wind farms. Through interviews with local residents, political experts, and the mayor, the episode unpacks the dilemma of sacrificing communities for the promise of a greener future.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction: The Stakes

• [01:43–02:26]
  • Anna Holligan introduces Moerdijk—population 1,100—as a test case for clean energy vs. community survival.
  • Residents face the prospect of the entire village being wiped out to facilitate new energy infrastructure.

Moerdijk: More Than Just Land

• [02:46–06:34]
  • Jacko Coleman, a third-generation local fisherman, describes Moerdijk as his home and the center of his family’s thriving fishing business.
    • “It's not human. It's absolutely not human. Just tell 1100 people to go.” — Jacko Coleman [01:55]
    • “My family’s been living off the water here since 1918… And now it looks like they are bringing us to the slaughter bank.” — Jacko Coleman [03:41]
  • The estuary’s strategic value: deep water, logistical links, and open land attract planners, but for locals, it’s a lifeblood.
  • Irony in success—Moerdijk’s thriving industry makes it a target for erasure.
    • “It's kind of ironic that the thing that has been such a draw and such a positive and the lifeblood of this village is ultimately the thing that is going to kill us.” — Anna Holligan [05:19]
  • Government and grid operators see opportunity, not homes.

The Human Cost: Village in Limbo

• [06:34–10:04]
  • The energy transition is urgent: Netherlands needs more space for clean power; grid is already overloaded.
  • Personal stories highlight loss—Jacko, Andrea (local grocer), and Jacques (retired engineer) share fears of displacement and loss of heritage.
    • “I'm scared I lose my house. My husband built our house with his own two hands. All our three children are born here. My grandparents are buried here.” — Andrea [08:48, 09:17]
    • “If you look where I'm living with the farming and everything, you never get this back.” — Jacques [12:54]

The Political & Social Dilemma

• [11:23–12:24]
  • Anna interviews Professor Girten Bogard (Leiden University), who explains the Dutch state’s central authority:
    • “In the end, we are a centralist state. So when the national government says, well, this is vital national interest, there are instruments to effectively implement that.” — Prof. Bogard [11:31]
    • Local council could oppose, but central government can override, leading to “very high cost, both politically and financially.” [11:51]
    • “There are no easy choices left. The pull on both sides very compelling.” — Prof. Bogard [12:19]

Resistance and Resilience in Moerdijk

• [13:02–14:56]
  • Jacques shares deep emotional and historical connection to the village:
    • “I like to stay in this house and the memory of my wife and everything. But yeah, if they give you an envelope with money, I want a fair price. And that's my worry that I don't get a correct price for my house. That is my worry for my job.” — Jacques [15:07]
    • The local landscape has transformed—farm fields replaced by the largest logistics hub in Europe and ever-increasing industry.
  • Moerdijk’s history of strategic sacrifice: devastated in WWII, now threatened in the name of green progress.
    • “Because more than half of the village was destroyed during the Second World War.” — Jacques [14:43]

The Mayor's Perspective & Heartbreak

• [16:10–19:26]
  • The local mayor explains the rationale and lack of alternatives:
    • Moerdijk was asked to provide 450 hectares (about 700 football fields) for energy infrastructure—“It's primarily about the energy demand.” — Mayor [16:10]
    • Two options: disrupt several villages with infrastructure, or sacrifice one entirely.
      • “We decided giving up the village of Moerdijk is the least painful option… But ultimately the central government makes the final decision.” — Mayor [16:53]
    • No real municipal leverage, as regional geography and existing infrastructure make Moerdijk the “only possible option.” [17:55]
    • The personal toll: “It was almost impossible for me. This really is the most difficult decision I've had to make in my entire career. And the night I had to deliver the message to my own residents was a night I will never, ever forget.” — Mayor [19:10]

Conclusion: Local Sacrifice, Global Lesson

• [19:26–End]
  • Anna Holligan reflects on the greater meaning:
    • Moerdijk’s struggle is “not just about a few streets on the edge of an estuary… It's what a government decides can or must be sacrificed for the sake of energy, sustainability and industry.”
    • The village’s crisis is emblematic—wherever the green transition happens, communities will face similar fates.
    • “Here in Moerdijk, that dilemma is no longer an abstract or hypothetical calculation. It's real and imminent and set to radically change the lives of Jacko, Andrea, Jacques and all the other people living on the fault lines of the green transition.” — Anna Holligan [19:26]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It's not human. It's absolutely not human. Just tell 1100 people to go.”
  — Jacko Coleman [01:55]

• “And now it looks like they are bringing us to the slaughter bank.”
  — Jacko Coleman [03:41]

• “My family's been living off the water since 1918… It's a family business. I'm the third generation and my son is also involved, that's the fourth.”
  — Jacko Coleman [03:41, 03:51]

• “I'm scared I lose my house. My husband built our house with his own two hands. All our three children are born here. My grandparents are buried here.”
  — Andrea [08:48, 09:17]

• “In the end, we are a centralist state… when the national government says, well, this is vital national interest, there are instruments to effectively implement that.”
  — Prof. Girten Bogard [11:31]

• “There are no easy choices left.”
  — Prof. Bogard [12:19]

• “This village will be demolished. That I know for sure.”
  — Jacques [13:58]

• “It was almost impossible for me. This really is the most difficult decision I've had to make in my entire career. And the night I had to deliver the message to my own residents was a night I will never, ever forget.”
  — Local Mayor [19:10]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:55 — Jacko Coleman’s emotional reaction to news of potential eviction
• 05:19 — Anna on the tragic irony of industrial success leading to Moerdijk's targeting
• 08:48 — Andrea’s fear and attachment to her home and family heritage
• 11:31 — Prof. Bogard on Dutch state authority
• 13:58 — Jacques’s blunt prediction of demolition
• 16:10 — Mayor details state energy demands and local governmental (lack of) choice
• 19:10 — Mayor recounts the trauma of delivering the news to villagers
• 19:26 — Anna Holligan’s closing reflection on the broader implications

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Takeaway

This episode illuminates the very real, human fallout of the green energy transition, particularly in areas where space is scarce and policy decisions become existential for communities. Moerdijk’s plight underscores questions every country must face: who bears the cost of progress, and what compromises are justifiable in the pursuit of a sustainable future?

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For more in-depth reporting on the global economy, subscribe to Business Daily from the BBC World Service.

Transcript

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[Anna Holligan]

You're listening to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. Hi, I'm Anna Holligan. Today, what happens when the global race for clean energy collides with the fate of a single village?

[Jacko Coleman]

It's not human. It's absolutely not human. Just tell 1100 people to go.

[Anna Holligan]

In the south of the Netherlands, the government is considering wiping a whole community off the map to make space for power lines, pylons and new industry.

[Andrea]

I'm scared I lose my house. My husband built our house with his own two hands.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

What happens here could shape how countries

[Anna Holligan]

everywhere balance clean energy, security of supply and the people who live beneath the pylons. This one village has become a test case.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

How does it feel for you as mayor when you have to look those people, those villagers, in the eye and say, do you know what? I'm sorry, but all of this has to go.

[Anna Holligan]

That's all coming up on Business Daily from the BBC.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Hi, hello.

[Anna Holligan]

Jack o' Coleman takes me into a room with a view.

[Jacko Coleman]

We can, we can sit There. If you want we can sit upstairs. Then you have a nice view on our river.

[Anna Holligan]

Jacko's fish business overlooks the Holland's deep estuary where South Holland meets North Brabant. He's clearly proud of his port side office.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

From right up here you can see

[Anna Holligan]

why this place matters to planners. Deep water, road and rail links, existing industry and open land. So much open land. For Jacko, though, it's simply home, you

[Jacko Coleman]

know, you're listening and I think, are they really saying that? That you have to go with your village?

[Anna Holligan]

He remembers the moment residents heard their village could eventually disappear to make way for expansion linked to the powerport Regio Moordite plan.

[Jacko Coleman]

Everybody was shocked. Really, really terrible.

[Anna Holligan]

His family's been living off the water here since 1918.

[Jacko Coleman]

And now it looks like they are bringing us to the slaughter bank. You go to bed with it and you wake up with it. The feeling as soon as you wake up, what's going to happen.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

And it's a family business.

[Jacko Coleman]

It's a family business. Correct. We are here. I'm the third generation and my son is also involved in the company. So that's the fourth generation.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

What will this mean to you then?

[Jacko Coleman]

Then it means that our company has to go. I live on the other side of the dyke in the village, so I have to go as well personally. And well, in meantime you also have to do your business. You have your family at home. And I'm not the only one. Not, not nice.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Moor Dyke started out as a fishing village.

[Anna Holligan]

Fishing was the first industry here.

[Jacko Coleman]

Long time ago. Yeah. On the smelt, the cum. Cum cummer fish. That was one of the biggest, the biggest thing. This is where we keep live fish.

[Jacques]

So.

[Anna Holligan]

So I can show you. We've moved through to a storage space full of tanks.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

So what do you have in here?

[Jacques]

Eels.

[Jacko Coleman]

Live eels.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Oh my gosh.

[Anna Holligan]

Okay, I'm going to take this.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

The eels are black and squirming. I wasn't expecting. Live eel.

[Jacko Coleman]

Yeah, they are used in Holland by smokeries. We smoke them ourselves as well. It's a very popular dish for this.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

This industry. Your fishing industry is thriving right now.

[Jacko Coleman]

So far, yes. We cannot complain. Luckily, these are smoke fields. Your big ones, your small ones.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

It's kind of ironic that the thing that has been such a draw and such a positive and the lifeblood of this village is ultimately the thing that

[Jacko Coleman]

is going to kill us.

[Anna Holligan]

The state and grid operators see something

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

very different when they look at this

[Anna Holligan]

same stretch of water and land around Mordyke.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

They're looking for Hundreds of hectares to

[Anna Holligan]

land power from new North Sea wind farms, build high voltage stations and lay cables and create space for hydrogen ready industry.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

It's a very strategically valuable location.

[Jacko Coleman]

It is, it is. I think you have seen our situation a little bit. We have a motorway over there, a motorway over there, and water over there. And I only look at big money. I understand that, but don't do it here. Do it 20, 30 kilometers away at the in the North Sea. Plenty of space there, plenty of windmills. I know that there are other possibilities. They don't really have to put the whole plant in this area. They can build it at sea, where the power is coming from. Put there a converter station.

[Anna Holligan]

Officials say Moerdyke makes sense because it already sits at the crossroads of ports, pipelines, motorways and the national grid plugged into everything.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

It's a really densely populated country and very small. And that's one of the key tensions here. 1,100 people live in this village.

[Anna Holligan]

The Netherlands wants more clean power, more energy security and more space for industry. But there is almost nowhere left to put it. Some companies and housing projects have been told they'll have to wait years for a connection.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

And the grid is overloaded already. But still, in the 21st century, it's hard to imagine that one of the most progressive countries in the world is considering just making a village disappear.

[Jacko Coleman]

Yeah, what can we do?

[Anna Holligan]

The country's offshore wind roadmap envisages enough wind capacity in the North Sea to cover most of today's electricity demand if the power can be brought ashore and into homes and factories.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Looking at those eels squirming around in the tank, it's just like a reminder of how alive, how much life there is here in Moordyke and how much there is to lose.

[Jacko Coleman]

This is a tradition. It's really difficult to let that go. But we are really going to fight.

[Anna Holligan]

Step away from the water on the other side of the dike and you feel that same uncertainty on the streets. Walking around Mordyke, you get a sense of the limbo lingering in the air. There are for sale signs planted in

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

some of the gravel driveways. But who wants to invest in a property in a village that may be

[Anna Holligan]

entirely uprooted in two decades time?

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

So the flags are flying at half mast because of what people fear is the impending death of Mordyke.

[Andrea]

Yes, yes, Y. And I'm not happy about it. Very scary.

[Anna Holligan]

Andrea runs the village grocery store. On the glass door there's a drawing of a grassy hill with sheep grazing.

[Andrea]

The poster says, hands off our Moadyke.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

There's so much life here, but in 10 years time it may be nothing.

[Andrea]

They want the land from the farmers, the land from our house. I'm scared I lose my house. My husband built our house with his own two hands. All our three children are born here.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

So how many generations have your family?

[Andrea]

4. My grandparents are buried here.

[Anna Holligan]

The gate to the cemetery is old iron.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Plastic flowers sit next to fresh tulips. Photographs propped up against weathered headstones.

[Anna Holligan]

This is where Andrea's grandparents and in laws are buried.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

It's where many of the people who

[Anna Holligan]

built Moordyk and fought to stay here expected to end up themselves.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

If the village goes, they ask what happens to this place?

[Anna Holligan]

Who looks after their dead when the living are told to move on? This is Business daily from the BBC World Service.

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[Anna Holligan]

I'm Anna Holligan and today we're in Moerdijk, a village in the southwest of the Netherlands. It's between Rotterdam and Antwerp and this entire village is currently fighting for its life.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Hi, it's Anna Holliday.

[Anna Holligan]

To understand how a whole village can end up in this position, I called Girten Bogard, professor of Local Government at Leiden University.

[Girten Bogard]

In the end, we are a centralist state. So when the national government says, well, this is vital national interest, there are instruments to effectively implement that.

[Anna Holligan]

So everyone in this village is against the plans. The council could in fact refuse to sacrifice the land for industry.

[Girten Bogard]

They could. Then they start a fight and the central government can in the end respond by Taking over control. But that comes with a very high cost, both politically and financially.

[Anna Holligan]

It feels like a real battle of our times. The pressure for the Netherlands to be able to produce more clean energy domestically and become more resilient and from the global shock. And at the same time, being a

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

country that is so short on space,

[Girten Bogard]

there are no easy choices left.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

The pull on both sides very compelling.

[Girten Bogard]

It is also a way of life, the way of life of a local community versus the way of life of the energy changes and the development for the electric energy and so on. So it is in a way a much bigger collision.

[Anna Holligan]

This small Dutch village matters far beyond its borders because the global green transition will always need space. And someone somewhere must live under or move for the power lines of progress.

[Jacques]

Yes, of course I like to stay here because if you look where I'm living with the farming and everything, you never get this back.

[Anna Holligan]

Jacques is 71. He's a retired engineer.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

We're outside your house. It's a beautiful Grand Villa from 1995.

[Jacques]

An eco friendly house.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

You built this yourself?

[Jacko Coleman]

Yeah.

[Jacques]

In eight to ten years it will be.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

None of this was here when you moved in.

[Anna Holligan]

I'm pointing out towards pylons, logistics sheds and chimneys.

[Jacques]

No, just the land here. So the farmer here.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

And then you look out on the horizon, you see the windmills. Now, I guess they weren't there when you built your home.

[Jacques]

It also is no problem. But that is where the industry starts. What you see there is the main road and that is the road from Rotterdam to Belgium. So all this part will be electric station where the blue building is. So the very big logistic park. That was also a farmer with cows.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

And now it's the biggest logistics hub in Europe.

[Jacques]

This village will be demolished. That I know for sure.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Is it important for a lot of people here to keep the community of Moordi together?

[Jacques]

There are people here that are far in the 90s. Barborne. The Second World War was incredible here. The Second World War because of the bridge.

[Anna Holligan]

For people like Jacques, this place has already survived one era of strategic sacrifice. Mordyke was heavily damaged during the Second World War because of the strategic importance of its bridge crossing over the Hollands.

[Jacques]

Deep bridge from Rotterdam to Andrew. There was Murdijkbrugh. When they built where my house was, there was somebody with a mine detector to look if there were still hand grenades in the ground.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Because more than half of the village was destroyed during the Second World War.

[Jacques]

And they have to build bunkers, concrete walls for the Germans to hold the English from across the river.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

So as part of the Atlantic Wall

[Anna Holligan]

here, that history helps explain why the latest threat, delivered not by bombs, but by planning documents, feels so existential.

[Jacques]

I like to stay in this house and the memory of my wife and everything. But yeah, if they give you an envelope with money, I want a fair price. And that's my worry that I don't get a correct price for my house. That is my worry for my job. I was electrician on board ships. I went to the ships by plane every time to repair the ships. And I did it more in 41 years, more than 960 times. But the nice thing every time was to come home and sit in your own chair.

[Anna Holligan]

The Dutch government declined our request for an interview about the situation in Moerdyke, saying they would consider it after a decision on the village's fue future. That decision's already been pushed back. It's now expected in June, extending the uncertainty for residents.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

Okay.

[Anna Holligan]

But we did manage to get in touch with the local mayor.

[Local Mayor]

It's primarily about the energy demand. We've received a demand from the state to provide 450 hectares of land within our municipality. That's the equivalent to about 700 football fields. So it's a huge area and it's to make space for energy infrastructure. And that has everything to do with the global situation we're in today. The Netherlands and Europe must become more self sufficient. But also our large industrial area around the port must be transformed to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

And your position is okay. We accept the village must be sacrificed to make space for these 400 to 500 hectares. Is that correct?

[Local Mayor]

Yes. The decision had already been made, but the exact location is still to be determined. And there are two possibilities. First, that the infrastructure could be laid between four villages. That would mean the people living in those villages would have to endure lots of overhead cables and considerable disruption that would have a dramatic and detrimental impact on their quality of life. The second option is to sacrifice one village entirely, which means that the village Mordic has to disappear. Neither are easy choices, but with guarantees about investment and ensuring the villagers of Mordig get a fair price for their homes. Then we decided giving up the village of Mordig is is the least painful option. But ultimately the central government makes the final decision. And that's expected in June.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

In your negotiations, did you feel like you had any real leverage?

[Jacko Coleman]

Arizona IN Nederlands the Diebelschleesing is all.

[Local Mayor]

We didn't have a choice. It had to be our municipality. We have a very large port and industrial area here, which already produces something like 60% of the CO2 emissions for our province. We have the water close by, we have the railway close by. So actually, logistically, we are the only possible option. We would have preferred to see it somewhere else in the Netherlands, but that choice was taken out of our house.

[Anna Holligan (Reporter/Narrator)]

When I was walking around Mordyk, I spoke to Andrea, who runs the village shop, and she talked about her. Her husband building their home with his own hands and their children growing up there. I went to the port and I spoke to. To Jack O', Coleman, whose family has fished there for generations, four generations. I spoke to a 71 year old called Jacques, who nursed his wife through breast cancer at their home that used to overlook fields. And he just wants to be able to stay sitting in his armchair. I found it really difficult hearing those stories, but how does it feel for you as mayor when you have to look those people, those villagers in the eye and say, do you know what? I'm sorry, but all of this has to go. It's for my own.

[Local Mayor]

It was almost impossible for me. This really is the most difficult decision I've had to make in my entire career. And the night I had to deliver the message to my own residents was a night I will never, ever forget.

[Anna Holligan]

What's being decided here in the Netherlands isn't just about a few streets on the edge of an estuary. It's what a government decides can or must be sacrificed for the sake of energy, sustainability and industry. Here in Moerdyke, that dilemma is no longer an abstract or hypothetical calculation. It's real and imminent and set to radically change the lives of Jaco, Andrea Jacques and all the other people living on the fault lines of the green transition. You've been listening to Business Daily, presented by me, Anna Holligan. For more stories at the heart of the global economy, just search for Business Daily wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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