How much energy do we get from biomass?
In 2019, the Netherlands consumed 106 petajoules (PJ) from biomass. Biomass is the largest source of renewable energy with a share of 60 percent.
Energy consumption from biomass rose by 15 percent to 106 petajoules in 2019. As in 2018, coal-fired power stations are co-firing more biomass. This represents a tripling, partly because the new coal-fired power station near Eemshaven also started to co-fire biomass. In 2019, total consumption of renewable energynoot1 grew by 16 percent to 182 petajoules compared to the year before. Over half of this increase was caused by higher consumption of biomass.
Consumption of liquid biofuels (biodiesel and biogasoline) rose from 23 to 28 petajoules; an increase of 24 percent. Energy production from co-firing in coal-fired power stations rose from 3 to 8 petajoules.
In 2019, renewable energy accounted for 8.7 percent of the Netherlands’ final energy consumptionnoot2 (about 2,100 PJ). It has been agreed at EU level that the share of renewable energy in the Netherlands should be 14 percent by 2020. This can be achieved by consuming renewable energy produced in the Netherlands, but also by purchasing it from countries with more renewable energy available than the agreed EU target. Meanwhile, the Netherlands has an agreement with Denmark to purchase a still to be determined amount of renewable energy for 2020.
In 2018, the Netherlands brought up the EU’s rear in terms of its share of energy from renewable sources (7.4 percent). Sweden takes the lead and generates more than half (54.6 percent) of its energy from renewable sources. In Finland and Latvia, the share of energy generated sustainably exceeds 40 percent.
| Land | Share of renewable energy |
|---|---|
| Sweden | 54.6 |
| Finland | 41.2 |
| Latvia | 40.3 |
| Denmark | 35.7 |
| Austria | 33.4 |
| Portugal | 30.3 |
| Estonia | 30.0 |
| Croatia | 28.0 |
| Lithuania | 24.4 |
| Romania | 23.9 |
| Slovenia | 21.1 |
| Bulgaria | 20.5 |
| EU-27 | 18.9 |
| Greece | 18.0 |
| Italy | 17.8 |
| Spain | 17.5 |
| France | 16.6 |
| Germany | 16.5 |
| Czech Republic | 15.2 |
| Cyprus | 13.9 |
| Hungary | 12.5 |
| Slovakia | 11.9 |
| Poland | 11.3 |
| Ireland | 11.1 |
| Belgium | 9.4 |
| Luxembourg | 9.1 |
| Malta | 8.0 |
| Netherlands | 7.4 |
Record growth in solar power capacity
In 2019, solar energy consumption (for electricity and heat) in the Netherlands increased by 37 percent to 20 petajoules. The installed capacity of solar panels for solar powernoot3 rose again by a record amount, from 2,300 megawatts to 6,900 megawatts, an increase of about 50 percent.
At the same time, wind energy production rose by 7 percent to 39 petajoules. The installed capacity of wind turbines increased from 4,400 megawatts at the end of 2018 to 4,500 megawatts at the end of 2019. At sea, the capacity of wind farms did not change and remained around 1 thousand megawatts.
| Year | Onshore wind energy | Solar energy | Offshore wind energy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14.34 | 1.42 | 2.67 |
| 2012 | 14.96 | 1.76 | 2.82 |
| 2013 | 16.68 | 2.58 | 2.65 |
| 2014 | 18.22 | 3.74 | 2.70 |
| 2015 | 21.17 | 5.13 | 3.73 |
| 2016 | 21.75 | 6.91 | 8.36 |
| 2017 | 22.56 | 9.08 | 12.15 |
| 2018 | 23.68 | 14.45 | 12.43 |
| 2019** | 26.74 | 19.79 | 12.04 |
| ** Revised provisional figures | |||
Sources
StatLine – Renewable energy; final use and avoided use of fossil energy
Eurostat – Share of energy from renewable sources
Relevant links
News release – Renewable energy consumption up by 16 percent
Green Growth – Domestic biomass consumption
The questions
- How does CBS calculate the figures?
- How do we use our land?
- How fast is the population growing?
- How are the various animal species doing?
- What are our top concerns?
- Where do the emigrants go?
- Who use social media the most?
- How isolated do we feel?
- What are our favourite wedding dates? What about partnership registrations?
- How many under-18s are receiving youth assistance?
- What about cyber crime?
- What are the most popular majors?
- What are the major religions?
- How many overnight stays?
- How many people shop online? And the items they buy...
- Who are eligible to vote?
- What are young people doing online?
- How many adults smoke or have smoked?
- Where were people in the Caribbean Netherlands originally born?
- Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?
- How much internet usage in the Caribbean Netherlands?
- How many people (never) work from home?
- How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
- Has our purchasing power gone up or down?
- Which jobs have the highest levels of mental fatigue?
- How many employees are members of a trade union?
- How many passengers flying into and out of the Netherlands?
- How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?
- How many dwellings in the Netherlands?
- How much is our average mileage in electric cars?
- What do we import from China?
- Which prices are up, which are down?
- What is our production of frozen fries?
- How many enterprises in the Netherlands?
- How much energy do we get from biomass?
- How much do we recycle?
- Which flower bulbs are most common?
- What is the impact of coronavirus?
Notes
Renewable energy
Renewable energy means energy from renewable non-fossil sources, namely wind, solar, aerothermal, geothermal, hydrothermal and ocean energy, hydropower, biomass, landfill gas, waste water treatment plant gas and biogases.
Final energy consumption
In accordance with European agreements, the share of renewable energy sources is calculated based on the gross energy consumption for energetic use. This concerns energy consumption by end-user sectors (manufacturing industry, households, services, agriculture and transport) for energy applications. This is exclusive of consumption for non-energy applications such as petroleum as a raw material for plastics and losses as a result of energy conversion. The rules for calculation are taken from the EU Renewable Energy Directive. These rules are slightly different from the rules for the national energy balance. As a result, energy consumption by end-users in the renewable energy statistic is not exactly equal to energy consumption by end-users in the national energy balance.
Solar panels for solar power
The installed capacity of solar installations in the Netherlands is calculated by combining data from a number of registrations (PIR, Certiq, VAT, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and energy-saving investment credit figures). Installations are then classified by dwellings and companies and company type on the basis of a link with the Addresses and Buildings Key Register (BAG), residential and business client databases and the electricity connection register. Quality is guaranteed with the application of various correction and control methods, including double counting between registrations and different years, capacities and year of commissioning. On the basis of the registrations used, it is expected that at least 95 percent of the total installed capacity in the Netherlands is known. However, it is known that registrations lag behind, as a result of which provisional figures may underestimate the installed capacity in that year.