Electricity production from renewable sources in the Netherlands increased to 32.3 billion kWh in the first half of 2024. For the first time in the first six months of a year, at 53 per cent, more electricity was produced from renewable sources than from fossil sources. Electricity production from wind rose by a third. This reports Statistics Netherlands on the basis of new figures.
Production increased by 1 per cent to 60.5 billion kWh in the same period. Electricity consumption increased by 5 per cent to 55.8 billion kWh in the first half of 2024. This is slightly below pre-corona levels.
Wind production up by a third
Electricity production from wind increased to 17.4 billion kWh in the first half of 2024. This is an increase of 4.4 billion kWh compared to the first half year in 2023. More than two-thirds of this increase took place offshore. The main reason for the increased electricity production from wind is the increase in capacity both at sea and on land. At sea, the new wind farms Hollandse Kust Zuid (I to IV) and Hollandse Kust Noord (V) in particular had a significant contribution to the capacity of wind at sea here.
Capacity on land also increased, especially in Flevoland, where several old smaller wind turbines were already replaced last year by larger and new wind turbines with more capacity. In this province alone, capacity increased by 0.4 GW during 2023 already. Nationwide, this capacity increased by 2.0 GW (0.6 GW on land and 1.4 GW at sea) by 2023.
Electricity production from solar increased with 0.8 billion kWh to 11.7 billion kWh. This was caused by more power being added, while the amount of solar radiation was actually less than in the first half of last year.
Electricity production from biomass decreased by 16 per cent, mainly due to less co-firing in coal-fired power plants, which also operated less in the first half of 2024.
Electricity production from coal fell to 3.9 billion kWh. With much more cheaper electricity from solar and wind available, coal-fired power plants were able to produce electricity less competitively.
Electricity production from natural gas also fell, to 21.3 billion kWh, especially at power plants, despite decreased prices for natural gas and CO2 emissions in 2024.
Electricity imports & exports
Electricity imports increased with 4 per cent and exports decreased with 10 per cent. On balance, the Netherlands exported 2.3 billion kWh more than it imported in the first 6 months of 2024. Source: CBS
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