Electricity production at record high

17/03/2020 15:00

In 2019, electricity production reached a record level of 121 billion kWh. This is a 6-percent increase on the previous year. The consumption of electricity remained more or less stable. There is a clear shift from coal to natural gas as a raw material for electricity generation. At the same time, imports from Germany declined. This is evident from new figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Electricity production, consumption¹⁾ and import balance
Jaar	Production (bn kWh)	Consumption (bn kWh)	Import balance (= imports minus exports) (bn kWh)
2000	89.4	100.6	18.9
2001	94.2	103.5	17.3
2002	95.9	104.2	16.4
2003	96.7	105.5	17
2004	100.7	108.5	16.2
2005	100.4	110.3	18.3
2006	98.8	111.8	21.5
2007	105.2	114	17.6
2008	108.2	115.3	15.9
2009	113.5	109.7	4.9
2010	118.2	112.7	2.8
2011	113	113.6	9.1
2012	102.5	111.4	17.1
2013	100.9	111.1	18.2
2014	103.4	109.1	14.7
2015	110.4	109.4	8.7
2016	115.2	110.5	4.9
2017	117.3	111.6	3.5
2018	114.5	113.7	8
2019	121	113.1	0.9
¹⁾ Net consumption = total consumption minus own consumption of electricity-generating installations and grid losses.

Electricity production, consumption¹⁾ and import balance
Jaar	Production (bn kWh)	Consumption (bn kWh)	Import balance (= imports minus exports) (bn kWh)
2000	89.4	100.6	18.9
2001	94.2	103.5	17.3
2002	95.9	104.2	16.4
2003	96.7	105.5	17
2004	100.7	108.5	16.2
2005	100.4	110.3	18.3
2006	98.8	111.8	21.5
2007	105.2	114	17.6
2008	108.2	115.3	15.9
2009	113.5	109.7	4.9
2010	118.2	112.7	2.8
2011	113	113.6	9.1
2012	102.5	111.4	17.1
2013	100.9	111.1	18.2
2014	103.4	109.1	14.7
2015	110.4	109.4	8.7
2016	115.2	110.5	4.9
2017	117.3	111.6	3.5
2018	114.5	113.7	8
2019	121	113.1	0.9
¹⁾ Net consumption = total consumption minus own consumption of electricity-generating installations and grid losses.

Electricity production shifting from coal to natural gas

Electricity production from coal sources saw a sharp decline from over 27 billion kWh in 2018 to over 17 billion kWh in 2019. In the same period, electricity production using natural gas rose from nearly 58 billion kWh to 71 billion kWh. Low natural gas prices as well as high carbon prices contributed to this development. Gas-fired electricity production generates proportionately less CO₂ per kWh than coal-fired electricity production.

Electricity production by energy carrier
Miljard kWh	Natural gas (bn kWh)	Coal (bn kWh)	Other fossils (incl. heating oil) (bn kWh)	Renewable (bn kWh)	Other (incl. nuclear power) (bn kWh)
2000	52.5	23.4	4.9	3	6.4
2001	54.4	24.9	5	3.3	6.4
2002	55.1	25	4.7	4	6.3
2003	56.2	25.9	5.2	4	6.9
2004	60.5	24.4	5.1	5.3	6.8
2005	58.2	23.1	5.2	7.5	6.8
2006	57.1	23.1	4.3	8.1	6.3
2007	60.9	24.6	5.2	7.6	6.8
2008	64.6	22.5	4.8	9.5	6.8
2009	68.5	23.4	3.7	10.8	7
2010	73.6	21.9	4.3	11.2	7.1
2011	67.9	20.8	4.5	12.3	7.4
2012	54.1	24.2	4.3	12.5	7.4
2013	54	24.6	4.1	12.2	6
2014	51	28.8	4.5	11.7	7.4
2015	45.9	39.5	4	13.7	6.9
2016	52.6	36.7	4	14.7	7.1
2017	57.9	31.3	3.9	17.4	6.7
2018	57.7	27.5	4.1	18.9	6.3
2019	71	17.4	3.9	22.4	6.3

Electricity production by energy carrier
Miljard kWh	Natural gas (bn kWh)	Coal (bn kWh)	Other fossils (incl. heating oil) (bn kWh)	Renewable (bn kWh)	Other (incl. nuclear power) (bn kWh)
2000	52.5	23.4	4.9	3	6.4
2001	54.4	24.9	5	3.3	6.4
2002	55.1	25	4.7	4	6.3
2003	56.2	25.9	5.2	4	6.9
2004	60.5	24.4	5.1	5.3	6.8
2005	58.2	23.1	5.2	7.5	6.8
2006	57.1	23.1	4.3	8.1	6.3
2007	60.9	24.6	5.2	7.6	6.8
2008	64.6	22.5	4.8	9.5	6.8
2009	68.5	23.4	3.7	10.8	7
2010	73.6	21.9	4.3	11.2	7.1
2011	67.9	20.8	4.5	12.3	7.4
2012	54.1	24.2	4.3	12.5	7.4
2013	54	24.6	4.1	12.2	6
2014	51	28.8	4.5	11.7	7.4
2015	45.9	39.5	4	13.7	6.9
2016	52.6	36.7	4	14.7	7.1
2017	57.9	31.3	3.9	17.4	6.7
2018	57.7	27.5	4.1	18.9	6.3
2019	71	17.4	3.9	22.4	6.3

More electricity from renewable sources than from coal

Total electricity production from renewable sources increased from nearly 19 billion kWh in 2018 to almost 22 billion kWh in 2019. This means that renewable electricity production levels exceeded coal-fired electricity production levels for the first time.

Strong decline in electricity imports from Germany

Electricity imports from Germany declined from 21 billion kWh in 2018 to 12 billion kWh in 2019. At the same time, the export of Dutch electricity to Germany increased sixfold.

The opposite was the case with respect to Belgium. Last year, electricity imports from Belgium were up by 2.8 billion kWh, while exports were down by 3.8 billion kWh.

Electricity imports and exports
Invoer/uitvoer (mld kWh)	2019 (bn kWh)	2018 (bn kWh)
Imports
Total	20.4	26.8
Germany	12.2	20.9
Belgium	4.5	1.8
Exports
Total	19.5	18.8
Germany	4.4	0.7
Belgium	7	10.8

Electricity imports and exports
Invoer/uitvoer (mld kWh)	2019 (bn kWh)	2018 (bn kWh)
Imports
Total	20.4	26.8
Germany	12.2	20.9
Belgium	4.5	1.8
Exports
Total	19.5	18.8
Germany	4.4	0.7
Belgium	7	10.8

Sources

StatLine - Electricity balance sheet; supply and consumption
StatLine - Electricity and heat; production and input by energy commodity
Euracoal - Coal import prices

Electricity production shifting from coal to natural gas

More electricity from renewable sources than from coal

Strong decline in electricity imports from Germany

Sources

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