More wind and solar electricity

© ANP
In 2017, the Netherlands generated 10 percent more electricity from renewable sources than in the previous year. Both wind and solar electricity production increased, according to new provisional figures on renewable electricity released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Electricity production from renewable sources amounted to 17 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2017, versus 15 billion kWh in 2016. With a share of 60 percent, wind turbines were the largest contributor, followed by biomass at nearly 30 percent. Solar panels accounted for almost 13 percent and the share of hydropower was limited to 0.5 percent.
The share of sustainably generated electricity in total Dutch electricity consumption increased from 12.5 percent in 2016 to 13.8 percent in 2017.

Mainly more wind energy

Electricity generation from wind power rose by 16 percent, i.e. from 8.4 to 9.6 billion kWh. This was mainly due to the major wind farm expansion in the second half of 2016. These new turbines were in use during the entire year 2017 and therefore count fully towards total production as of that year. The established wind turbine capacity remained more or less stable throughout 2017: onshore turbines accounted for over 3.2 thousand megawatts (MW) and offshore turbines for nearly one thousand MW by the end of the year.

More solar panels

Likewise, solar panel power production was up, from 1.6 to 2.1 billion kWh. The total capacity of installed solar panels surged in 2017 and is estimated at more than 2.7 gigawatts (GW). Electricity production from biomass sources decreased slightly last year, mainly due to some large biomass plants shifting from electricity to heat generation.

Sources

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