Most green electricity imported

In 2002 1.5 percent of the total Dutch energy supply was generated by renewable energy sources in the Netherlands. If the amount of imported renewable electricity is included, renewable energy is used for 4.2 percent of the total energy supply in the Netherlands.

Some 13 percent of electricity used in the Netherlands is generated by renewable sources in and outside the Netherlands.

Share of renewable energy in Dutch energy supply

Imports continue to rise substantially

Although the total amount of imported electricity fell slightly in 2002, the amount of renewable electricity imported rose for the third year in a row. Half of the total amount of electricity imported is now generated by renewable sources. Sixty percent of this imported renewable electricity is generated by bio-energy, 40 percent by hydropower.

More domestic bio-energy and wind energy

Domestic production of green electricity has also risen sharply: by 24 percent in 2002. The partial use of bio-mass in coal-fired power stations accounts for the majority of the increase. Electricity generated by bio-energy supplies more than 2.3 percent of the total national electricity use in the Netherlands.

The amount of wind energy generated in the Netherlands rose by 10 percent. Dutch wind turbines contribute 0.8 percent to national use. The increase is the effect of an additional 132 wind turbines erected in 2002, which increased the potential capacity of Dutch wind turbines by a record 40 percent.

Hydro-electric power stations in the Netherlands contributed 0.1 percent to Dutch energy use, and the share of solar energy is till very small (0.015 percent).

Supply exceeds demand

Because of the large amount of imported and domestically generated renewable energy, the supply is four times as large as the demand for green energy. The number of users is increasing rapidly though. In 2002 the number of users rose from 0.8 to 1.4 million. The increase has continued into 2003: in the first quarter of this year another 0.4 million users switched (or partly switched) to green electricity.

Henk Verduin (Statistics Netherlands) and Christiaan Abeelen (Netherlands organisation for energy and the environment NOVEM)