The Dutch village at risk from an energy project
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 12 April 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today - a Dutch fishing village that could be wiped off the map to make room for a mega‑energy hub.
We visit Moerdijk, to meet families, eel‑smokers and shopkeepers. What does their fight tell us about the quiet dilemmas in the global race for clean energy?
If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presented and produced by Anna Holligan
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
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(Picture: View of some boats in Moerdijk, Netherlands.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.0 | You're listening to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. I'm Anna Holligan. Today, what happens |
| 0:14.6 | when the global race for clean energy collides with the fate of a single village? |
| 0:19.6 | It's not human. It's absolutely not human. Just tell 1100 people to go. |
| 0:24.4 | In the south of the Netherlands, the government is considering wiping a whole community |
| 0:28.5 | off the map to make space for power lines, pylons and new industry. |
| 0:33.1 | I'm scared. I lose my house. My husband built our house with his own two hands. |
| 0:39.4 | What happens here could shape how countries everywhere balance clean energy, security of supply |
| 0:45.6 | and the people who live beneath the pylons. This one village has become a test case. |
| 0:51.6 | How does it feel for you as mayor when you have to look those people, |
| 0:55.1 | those villagers in the eye and say, |
| 0:57.1 | do you know what? |
| 0:57.6 | I'm sorry, but all of this has to go. |
| 1:00.5 | That's all coming up on Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 1:10.7 | Hi. |
| 1:12.4 | Jacko Komen takes me into a room with a view. |
| 1:14.7 | We can sit there if you want, we can sit upstairs and you have a nice view on our river. |
| 1:20.4 | Jacko's fish business overlooks the Holland's deep estuary, where South Holland meets North Brabant. |
| 1:26.3 | He's clearly proud of his port side office. |
| 1:31.0 | From right up here, you can see why this place matters to planners. |
| 1:36.1 | Deepwater, road and rail links, existing industry, and open land. |
| 1:41.7 | So much open land. |
... |
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