More than half of Dutch energy from renewable sources for first time

For the first time, more than half of electricity production in the Netherlands comes from renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. In the first half of this year, electricity production from renewable sources increased to 32.3 billion kilowatt hours. That brought renewable energy’s share to 53 percent of total electricity production.

Electricity production from wind increased by a third to 17.4 billion kilowatt hours. Over two-thirds of this increase took place at sea, mainly thanks to the new wind farms Hollandse Kust Zuid and Hollandse Kust Noord. Electricity from solar increased to 11.7 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 0.8 billion. Production from biomass increased by 16 percent.

Electricity production from fossil fuels fell sharply in the same period. Production from coal fell almost 40 percent. Production from natural gas fell to 21.3 billion kilowatt hours despite falling natural gas prices and CO2 emissions.

The Netherlands exported 2.3 billion kilowatt hours more than it imported in the first six months of this year. Imports rose by 4 percent in the first half of 2024, while exports fell by 10 percent. Exports to Belgium (9 percent) and Germany (7 percent) particularly fell sharply. Due to a strong increase in production at French nuclear and hydroelectric power stations, these countries imported more electricity from France and less from the Netherlands.

Electricity consumption rose by 5 percent to 55.8 billion kilowatt hours in the first half of 2024. This is slightly below the pre-corona level.