Nearly half the electricity produced in the Netherlands is now renewable

© Hollandse Hoogte / Rob Voss
In 2023, 48 percent of electricity was generated from renewable sources such as solar, wind and water. Between May and July, over half of the electricity generated in the Netherlands was from renewable sources, and that share reached as high as 57 percent in July. Production from renewable sources increased by 21 percent in 2023 compared with the previous year. The share of electricity generated from fossil fuels fell, and the Netherlands exported more electricity to neighbouring countries than ever before. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of provisional figures.

A total of 120 billion kWh of electricity was produced in 2023, 1 percent more than in the previous year. The amount generated from fossil fuels was 58 billion kWh, down 12 percent from the previous year. Less electricity was produced from coal and natural gas, which were down 38 and 4 percent respectively. This was due in part to the availability of cheaper wind and solar energy.

Production of electricity from wind energy increased by over a third

The production of electricity from renewable sources increased to 57 billion kWh in 2023. The amount of electricity produced from wind energy went up by 35 percent compared to the previous year, to reach 29 billion kWh. This was partly due to an increase in the wind turbine capacity installed, both onshore and offshore. The total capacity of wind turbines reached 11 GW in 2023.

Solar electricity production up by nearly a quarter

A total of 21 billion kWh of electricity was generated from solar energy in 2023. That was an increase of 24 percent relative to the previous year. One major cause was the increase in the capacity of solar panels installed (+4.3 GW).

A further 7.0 billion kWh of energy was generated from biomass. That was 1.7 billion less than in the previous year, partly because less biomass fuel was used in coal-fired power plants.

Export of electricity reaches a record high

A record 25 billion kWh of electricity was exported in 2023, up 10 percent from the previous year. Germany imported the most electricity from the Netherlands (10 billion kWh), followed by Belgium (8 billion kWh) and the United Kingdom (4 billion kWh). The amount of electricity exported to Germany was up by 13 percent. This was partly due to the closure of Germany’s last nuclear power plant. The Netherlands also exported more electricity to the United Kingdom (+18 percent).

Total electricity imports also rose by 5 percent in 2023 to reach 19 billion kWh, compared with a year earlier. Imports from Norway increased the most (1.1 billion kWh). This was due to increased production by Norwegian hydropower plants.

On balance, over 5.7 billion kWh of electricity was exported in 2023. It was the second year in a row that more electricity was exported than imported.

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