Updating Permits for Open Ground Energy Systems (OGES)

Within the service area of the Haaglanden Environmental Agency (ODH), approximately 105 permits have been issued for open geothermal systems (OBES). All of these date from before 2013. Prior to 2013, no general rules or instruction guidelines for geothermal energy existed; permit conditions were determined solely on a case‑by‑case basis. Since then, general regulations have been introduced and further developed under the Environment and Planning Act.

In the older permits, explicit balance requirements are often missing. These were not included at the time and did not later become part of the decisions through general regulations. As a result, in many cases there is no legal basis for enforcing non‑permitted heat surpluses. Without balance requirements, supervision is limited or impossible, creating risks for the subsurface, hindering sustainable subsurface management, and undermining the permitting system.

Cantech carries out the full ex officio amendment process on behalf of ODH, commissioned by the Province of South Holland. This involves updating existing permits without requiring permit holders to submit an application.

The project is carried out in close coordination with permitting officers, legal experts, inspectors, IPLO, and the provincial authorities, ensuring strong alignment between policy, implementation, and legal frameworks. Cantech conducts the policy analysis and legal review, assesses the existing permits and dossiers, and develops proposals for ex officio amendments, including draft conditions and decisions. In addition, we develop standardised formats, templates, and a central management overview to accelerate and streamline the process.

The project runs until the end of 2026 and focuses on the systematic updating of approximately 105 complex permits. For each permit, a complete dossier is compiled and, where necessary, legally substantiated and amended.

The results are focused on:

• a clear legal anchoring of balance requirements, enabling effective supervision and enforcement
• restoring the energy balance in subsurface energy systems and preventing heat surpluses
• ensuring the sustainable use of the subsurface
• and a future‑proof permitting practice through uniform procedures, standardised formats, and a central management overview

Through this integrated approach, both competent authorities and permit holders gain greater clarity, while the quality, enforceability, and sustainability of geothermal and subsurface energy systems are structurally strengthened.