Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags behind most EU countries in the production of energy from renewable sources. The leading renewable sources in the country are biomass, wind, solar and both geothermal and aerothermal power (mostly from ground source and air source heat pumps). In 2014, the Netherlands produced only 5.5% of its total energy from renewables, a small rise from 3.7% in 2010 and just 1% in 1990. Among the EU countries, only Malta and Luxembourg had lower percentages.
Contents
- Energy consumption by sector
- Recent trends in renewable energy
- Climate change
- Historical trends 1990 2011
- References
The low take up of renewable energy may be partially explained by the flat and often sub-sea level landscape and subsequent limits to hydropower resources, although hydro poor resource countries such as Denmark have still managed to make renewables the focus of their energy needs. In 2015, Dutch wind turbines had a total nameplate capacity of 3,431 MW. Wind and solar power installations had a record breaking year during 2015 and this may move the Netherlands closer to its target of 37% of electricity production coming from renewables by 2020. A number of large offshore windfarms have either come online recently (Gemini wind farm) or have been granted authorisation (Borsellee 1 and 2, and Borsellee 3 and 4 wind farms). Most of the tiny contribution made to electricity generation by hydroelectricity came from three power plants.
A large part of the renewable electricity sold in the Netherlands comes from Norway, a country which generates almost all its electricity from hydropower plants. In the Netherlands, household consumers can choose to buy renewable electricity. Since 2008, the amount of renewable energy used by household users has been increasing, rising from 38% in 2008 to 41% by 2009. and up to 44% by mid 2010.
One area in which the Netherlands is a relative leader is in the adoption of electric plug in vehicles. In 2015 PEV vehicles in the Netherlands represented 9.74% of car sales, making it the world's second highest share after Norway. Electric vehicles are able to run on renewable electricity with zero emissions and have the potential to provide grid power storage facilities.
An interesting source of heat recovery used in the Netherlands is sourced from freshly milked milk, or warm milk. However at 0.3% of total renewable energy production (2010 figures) this source is not likely to accelerate energy transition in the country. Warm milk is still not mentioned in the EU Renewable Energy Directive, nor in international energy statistics and so is not included is gross final consumption figures. It does however provide Dutch farmers with plenty of hot water.
Energy consumption by sector
All EU countries as well as Iceland and Norway submitted National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) to outline the steps taken, and projected progress by each country between 2010 and 2020 to meet the Renewable Energy Directive targets for each country. Each plan contains a detailed breakdown of each country's current renewable energy usage and plans for future developments. According to projections by the Dutch submission in 2020 the gross final energy consumption in the Netherlands by sector breaks down as follows:
*After adjustments.
Using the unadjusted NREAP data approximately half of energy consumption (52.8%) is used in the heating and cooling sector. The heating and cooling sector (also known as the thermal sector) includes domestic heating and air conditioning, industrial processes such as furnaces and any use of heat generally. The next largest share is the electricity sector at 24.7%, followed by the transport sector at 22.5%. Total annual energy consumption before adjustments for aviation is projected to be 52,088 ktoe (52.million tonnes of oil equivalent) by 2020. In order to meet the Netherlands overall target for 14.5% (or 14% using the slightly different renewable energy directive calculation methodology) use of renewable energy in Gross final energy consumption by 2020 (it was just 2.5% in 2005) targets have been set for each sector. Renewable energy targets for the year 2020 by sector are: 8.7% in the heating and cooling sector, 37% in the electricity sector and 10.3% in the transport sector.
Recent trends in renewable energy
The Netherlands has a minimum target of 14% of renewable energy use by 2020. The sectoral targets for 2020 break down into national targets of 8.7% in the heating and cooling sector, 37% in the electricity sector and 10.3% in the transport sector although these figures may be slightly different from those implied by the minimum trajectory path. The following table shows the actual results recorded of renewable energy use by sector:
Actual overall renewable energy use grew from 4.3% in 2009 to 5.5% by 2014. The minimum trajectory planned for 2013-2014 was 5.9% and for 2015-2016 7.6% of total energy use. The Netherlands is regarded as amongst the most likely countries to miss 2020 national renewable energy targets as outlined by the Renewable Energy Directive.
Climate change
According to the ex Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the Netherlands use annually 1-1.5 billion € (0.3% of national income) to protect against the risks of the sea level rise. Many areas are under sea level in the Netherlands and are protected by dam and dikes. The Netherlands supported in 2010 raising the European Union emission restrictions from 20% to 30%; however, the Netherlands has only committed to reaching the minimum 14% goal for itself.
Historical trends 1990-2011
The main sources of renewable energy up to 2011 were from biomass and wind power. Solar power was marginal with only 143 MW installed capacity by 2011. Energy from hydroelectric sources in 2011 was only marginally greater than that provided from heat extracted from warm milk.
Total renewable energy use was just 1.1% of overall energy use in 1990. The electricity sector first overtook the heating and cooling sector in 2005 in terms of total renewable energy use.