Energy from renewable sources rises to 17 percent

© CBS
In 2023, renewable energy accounted for 17 percent of gross national energy consumption in the Netherlands. That was up from 15 percent in 2022. The increase was mainly due to higher consumption of wind and solar energy. Energy from biomass declined slightly. This is according to provisional figures by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
In 2023, renewable energy consumption amounted to 308 PJ (petajoules), representing a year-on-year increase of 11 percent. Gross final energy consumption fell to over 1,800 PJ, which was 2 percent lower than in 2022.

The 2013 national Energy Agreement set a target of 16 percent renewable energy for 2023, which has been achieved. At the end of 2023, new targets for 2030 were agreed at EU level. According to these targets, at least 42.5 percent of European energy consumption must be renewable. It is not yet known what impact this will have on the target set for the Netherlands.


Wind energy consumption up by a quarter

In 2023, the consumption of wind energy increased by 25 percent to 96 PJ year on year. This included 39 PJ produced by offshore wind turbines and 57 PJ by onshore wind turbines.

The increase in wind energy consumption is largely attributable to the addition of many new turbines. Offshore production capacity increased by 55 percent to nearly 4 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, while onshore capacity increased by 10 percent to nearly 7 GW. The largest increases were recorded in the provinces of Flevoland, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland.

Sharp growth in solar energy

In 2023, solar energy consumption (for electricity and heat) went up by 17 percent to 73 PJ year on year. This was mainly due to the installation of new solar panels. Total installed solar capacity increased by 24 percent compared with 2022, to over 24 thousand GW. There were also more hours of sunshine than average in 2023, although fewer than in 2022.


Biomass consumption declining

The largest quantity of renewable energy is generated from biomass (106 PJ), such as wood, manure or food waste. Biomass can be burned to create electricity, heat or fuel for transportation. The consumption of renewable energy from biomass was down by over 3 percent in 2023 on the previous year. This was mainly due to the fact that 31 percent less biomass was used to co-fire power stations.

Renewable energy from biomass boilers for electricity production by businesses was 61 percent higher than in 2022. This increase was driven by the fact that more of the biomass used has been shown to meet the prevailing European sustainability criteria. This is necessary in order for energy production to count towards the share of renewable energy according to the European calculation method.

A quarter more heat energy generated by heat pumps

Heat pumps extract warmth from the air or ground outside. In 2023, the amount of heat extracted increased by 26 percent to nearly 26 PJ, year on year. This was due to more heat pumps being installed.

At the end of 2023, the total heating capacity of all the heat pumps in the Netherlands was nearly 16 GW, 22 percent more than in 2022.

The share of renewable energy in the Netherlands below the EU average

The EU’s share of renewable energy was 23 percent in 2022. One year later, the share of renewable energy in the Netherlands was 15 percent, which is lower than the EU average. The only EU countries with a lower share were Luxembourg, Belgium, Malta and Ireland. However, over the past five years, the share of renewable energy in the Netherlands has risen at a faster rate than in most other EU countries.

Sweden ranked highest in the EU at 66 percent renewable energy, followed by Finland (48 percent) and Latvia (43 percent).

Sources

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