Eli Lilly Gets Its $3 Billion Dutch Factory. Katwijk Keeps the Water and Gas Bill.
Katwijk's council voted 28 to 4 for Eli Lilly's $3 billion obesity-pill plant, whose permit filings, as nu.nl reported, claim about a million litres of water a day and the power load of 17,000 homes, served by gas turbines because the grid is full. The vote clears building only: production and wastewater permits are still unissued, and that timeline risk sits with Lilly.
Vincent Jiang · 2 min read
A yes vote on a clock Lilly set
On 1 October, Katwijk's council voted 28 to 4 for Eli Lilly's $3 billion obesity-pill factory beside Valkenburg Lake 123. Earlier the same evening, it had refused residents the referendum hundreds of them had asked for 234.
The independent referendum commission found the request met the requirements but could not fit inside the statutory decision deadline of 2 October 34. Alderman Gerard Mostert asked Lilly for more time; the company refused, holding to the legal terms 4. The site was announced in November 2025: about 500 permanent jobs, 1,500 more during construction, and European capacity for orforglipron, Lilly's first oral GLP-1 obesity pill 5.
Volume is the plan, Europe is the capacity
Lilly cut its US price 10 percent in the first quarter of 2026 and 9 percent in the second, excluding rebate adjustments, and management expects price to keep falling as access widens 6. The bet is that volume outruns it: US obesity prescriptions rose 78 percent in the second quarter, and six in ten were for a Lilly medicine 6. Katwijk is the supply side of that bet, and the revenue line shows why the capacity is worth $3 billion to the company 7.
Lilly's quarterly revenue has more than doubled since early 2024
Data
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '24 | $8.77B |
| Q2 '24 | $11.3B |
| Q3 '24 | $11.44B |
| Q4 '24 | $13.53B |
| Q1 '25 | $12.73B |
| Q2 '25 | $15.56B |
| Q3 '25 | $17.6B |
| Q4 '25 | $19.29B |
| Q1 '26 | $19.8B |
| Q2 '26 | $22.97B |
The filings the town voted on
The permit paperwork, as nu.nl reported, puts the load in household terms: about 1 million litres of water a day and electricity equal to more than 17,000 homes 8. Because the local grid is full for years, Lilly will generate its own power in gas turbines burning up to 9.18 million cubic metres of gas a year 1248.
A Decisio study commissioned by the council concluded that the benefits go to the region and the costs to Katwijk; Mostert conceded the point, "something had to be set against it" ("Er moest wat tegenover komen te staan") 8. Residents filed 813 objections 39, and a motion to spend part of Lilly's extra property-tax revenue in the Valkenburg district for ten years won no majority 3. The state and the province have pledged 72 million euros for road access 149.
The permits are still open
The town's defence is in the file: residents' concerns triggered extra research and sharpened permit conditions, and a summer second opinion on Lilly's studies found nothing new 149. What the vote settled is the building; the production and wastewater-discharge permits remain unissued 123. The watch item now is the executive board's signature on the definitive permit and the appeal window behind it, with opponents already weighing their next steps 3. The pills will be Lilly's. The litres, the watts and the gas are Katwijk's.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
