Renewables made up half of all energy produced in the Netherlands last year

Last year, 48 percent of electricity produced in the Netherlands came from renewable sources, with even 57 percent coming from the sun, wind, and water in May, June, and July. Production from renewable sources increased while fossil power generation decreased, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Thursday.

Nearly 120 billion kWh of electricity was produced in the Netherlands last year, 1 percent more than a year earlier. Of that, 58 billion kWh came from fossil fuels (-12 percent). Production from renewable sources increased by 21 percent to 57 billion kWh.

Electricity from wind energy grew by 35 percent to 29 billion kWh last year. “The growth is partly due to an increase in the installed capacity of wind turbines, both on land and at sea,” CBS said. Electricity production from the sun increased by 24 percent to 21 billion kWh. And 7 billion kWh came from biomass, 1.7 billion less than the previous year. “That is partly because less biomass has been burned in coal-fired stations.”

The Netherlands exported 25 billion kWh of electricity last year, an increase of 10 percent compared to 2022 and a new record. The largest share went to Germany (10 billion kWh), Belgium (8 billion kWh), and the United Kingdom.

Electricity imports increased by 5 percent to 19 billion kWh. Imports from Norway increased the most (1.1 billion kWh). “That is due to increased production of Norwegian hydroelectric power stations,” CBS said. Last year was the second year in a row that, on balance, the Netherlands exported more electricity than it imported.