Wind power shows largest increase in 2021, CBC says

A range of 12.0-13.4 percent of total energy consumption in 2021 came from renewable sources. Wind power saw the greatest percentage growth in electricity generation. CBC’s report, “Renewable energy in the Netherlands 2021,” makes this quite clear.

Due to uncertainty around the application of sustainability criteria for biomass from the amended EU Renewable Energy Directives, the precise share cannot yet be computed (RED II). Some of the biomass utilized may not contribute to the renewable energy share in 2021, depending on how it is implemented.

The percentage reached 14.0 percent in 2020, with domestically produced renewable energy accounting for 11.5 percent of that total. Through a statistical transfer with Denmark, where 13.7 TWh was purchased to reach the European objective in 2020, the remaining 2.5 percent was accomplished.

Between 45 and 51 percent of all renewable energy in 2021 will come from biomass. When the biomass’s uncertain component is added to the total, wind energy accounts for 25% of the energy and sun energy for 16%. The combined contribution of the other sources, including hydropower, geothermal energy, and air-source heat was 8%.

More than 41 billion kWh of electricity will be generated in 2021 using biomass, solar, wind, and hydropower (including the uncertain part). This accounts for 34% of overall electricity use. 37 billion kWh, or 30% of total electricity use, have been produced if the undetermined portion of the biomass is not taken into account. This percentage was 26% in 2020.

Wind power

In 2021, the number of wind turbines produced climbed by 36 percent (adjusted for wind speed), while the capacity of the Dutch wind farm increased by 17 percent. The amount of solar-generated electricity grew by 29%. An rise of 21% is observed when all biomass is taken into account. With more than 5 billion kWh, wind energy produced the most additional electricity in absolute terms. In 2021, the production of electricity (normalized) rose by 36% to 19 billion kWh. In 2021, 45 percent of all wind-generated electricity came from offshore wind.

At the end of 2021, the installed wind energy capacity rose and reached 7,700 megawatts, up from 6,700 megawatts at the end of 2020. The rise in onshore capacity, which climbed by 24 percent to reach 5,300 megawatts at the end of 2021, is the only factor contributing to the growth. In 2021, no new offshore wind farms will be constructed.

If all biomass is taken into account, the amount of renewable energy used for heating grew by 10% in 2021 compared to 2020. Between 7.4 and 8.4 percent of the heat supply was made up of renewable energy. The expansion in the usage of heat pumps that generate heat from outside air and the production of heat at waste incineration facilities were the main causes of the rise in the consumption of renewable heat.

Nearly 9% of the total energy used for transportation in 2021 was derived from renewable sources. In comparison to 2020, this is around four percentage points lower. New RED II rules are to blame for the decline. What impact the new regulations will have on the proportion of renewable energy used for transportation is still unknown due to ambiguity around their interpretation. The overall absolute usage of transport biofuels has risen by 14% from 2020. The main reason for this rise is that in 2021, providers delivered more biotransport fuels to road traffic than they did to maritime vessels. For providers to fulfill their (national) requirement, deliveries to overseas shipping do count.

The data used to calculate the figures for 2021 was published on StatLine at the end of June/start of July as provisional data.

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