Renewable electricity; production and capacity

Renewable electricity; production and capacity

Energy sources / techniques Periods Production of electricity Gross production with normalisation (mln kWh) Production of electricity Production without normalisation Gross production of electricity (mln kWh) Production of electricity Production without normalisation Net production of electricity (mln kWh) Production of electricity relative Gross production with normalisation (in % of use) Production of electricity relative Production without normalisation Gross production of electricity (in % of use) Production of electricity relative Production without normalisation Net production of electricity (in % of use) Installed installations Installations installed end of year (number) Installed installations Electrical capacity end of year (megawatt)
Total renewable energy sources 2022* . 48,523 47,512 . 41.18 41.61 . .
Hydropower 2022* 87 50 50 0.07 0.04 0.04 8 38
Wind energy, total 2022* 21,360 21,152 21,152 18.12 17.95 18.53 3,018 8,747
Onshore wind energy 2022* 12,972 13,122 13,122 11.01 11.14 11.49 2,546 6,176
Offshore wind energy 2022* 8,388 8,030 8,030 7.12 6.81 7.03 472 2,571
Solar photovoltaic 2022* 17,650 17,650 17,650 14.98 14.98 15.46 . 18,849
Total biomass 2022* . 9,671 8,659 . 8.21 7.58 . .
Municipal waste; renewable fraction 2022* 2,207 2,207 1,778 1.87 1.87 1.56 . .
Co-firing of biomass in electr. plants 2022* . 5,529 5,143 . 4.69 4.50 . .
Biomass boilers companies, CHP 2022* . 1,114 943 . 0.95 0.83 . .
Total biogas 2022* . 821 795 . 0.70 0.70 . .
Biogas from landfills 2022* . 13 12 . 0.01 0.01 . .
Biogas from sewage water purification 2022* . 148 144 . 0.13 0.13 . .
Biogas, co-digestion of manure 2022* . 439 426 . 0.37 0.37 . .
Other biogas 2022* . 220 214 . 0.19 0.19 . .
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Dataset is not available.


This table contains information about the Dutch production of renewable electricity, the number of installations used and the installed capacity of these installations. During production, a distinction is made between normalised gross production and non-standard gross and net production without normalisation.

Production of electricity is shown in million kilowatt hours and as a percentage of total electricity consumption in the Netherlands. The production of renewable electricity is compared with total electricity consumption and not against total electricity production. This choice is due to European conventions.

The data is broken down according to the type of energy source and the technique used to obtain the electricity. A distinction is made between four main categories: hydro power, wind energy, solar power and biomass.

Data available from: 1990.

Status of the figures:
This table contains definite figures until 2020, revised provisional figures of 2021 and provisional figures of 2022.

Changes as of March 6th 2023
Provisional figures of 2022 have been added. The gross electricity production with normalisation (according to RED II) is not yet known for some forms of biomass for 2022. When this applies a “.“ is displayed.
RED II refers to the EU renewable energy directive which came into force in 2021.

Changes as of February 8th 2023
The gross electricity production with normalisation of co-firing of biomass in electricity plants has been updated for 2021.
After exchanges with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), in charge of securing the sustainability of subsidised solid biomass for electricity and heat, it has been concluded that the solid biomass used in co-firing plants were 100% RED II compliant with respect to biomass sustainability in 2021. This results in a 3.6 billion kWh higher gross electricity production with normalisation for co-firing plants than the update in December 2022. Total renewable normalized electricity production expressed as percentage of total electricity consumption is now 3 percentage point higher. RED II refers to the EU renewable energy directive which came into force in 2021.

Changes as of December 15th 2022:
Figures for 2020 and 2021 have been updated.
Only solid and gaseous biomass compliant according to REDII are used to determine the gross production with normalisation from these energy sources in 2021. The gross production with normalisation for 2020 and before will not be modified anymore. This results in a difference between the gross production with and without normalisation from solar photovoltaic energy, as the not normalised production has been updated for 2020.

Changes as of June 2022:
Provisional figures for 2021 have been added.
From reporting year 2021, new sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass will apply in the context of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (REDII). It is currently unclear whether all biomass consumed in the Netherlands meets these new sustainability criteria. For the normalised electricity production where this uncertainty applies a “.“ is displayed.

When will new figures be published?
Provisional figures on electricity output for the previous year are published each year in February. Revised figures on electricity output for the previous year are published each year in June. Definite figures on electricity output for the previous year are published each year in December.

Description topics

Production of electricity
Domestic production of renewable electricity in millions of kilowatt hours.
Gross production with normalisation
Gross production of renewable electricity corrected for weather conditions and including the indirect production from green gas. As of reporting year 2021, electricity production from solid and gaseous biomass used in installations above a specific power threshold will only be taken into account if the biomass used meets the new sustainability criteria as stated in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).

Gross production is the production including own use. Own use is the electricity that is used in electricity output.

The normalised production has been calculated according to definitions from the EU Renewable Energy Directive. The binding targets from this guideline play an important role in Dutch energy policy. The production without normalisation is the actual physical production according to definitions from the standard national and international energy statistics.

There are three differences between the normalised figures and the figures without normalisation:
1. Correction for accidental weather conditions.
2. Whether or not to include production of electricity from green gas.
3. Wheter or not to include biomass that is not compliant according to RED II.

Further explanation for 1: The normalised production in a given year is calculated as the capacity in the relevant year times the average production per unit capacity in the past five years (for wind energy) or fifteen years (for hydro-power). The production of solar power is in principle also dependent on the weather. In the EU Directive, however, it has been agreed not to apply normalisation for solar power.
Further explanation for 2: Green gas is biogas that has been upgraded to natural gas quality and injected into the natural gas network. A (small) part of the production of electricity from natural gas can thus be allocated to green gas. This allocation has been included in the normalised production of electricity; this allocation is not taken into account in production of electricity without normalisation.
Further explanation for 3: As of reporting year 2021, electricity production from solid and gaseous biomass used in installations above a specific power threshold will only be taken into account if the biomass used meets the new sustainability criteria as stated in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).
Production without normalisation
Production of renewable electricity-, not corrected for weather conditions and excluding the indirect production from green gas.

Green gas is biogas that has been upgraded to natural gas quality and injected into the natural gas network. A (small) part of the production of electricity from natural gas can thus be allocated to green gas. This allocation has been included in the normalised production of electricity; this allocation is not taken into account in production of electricity without normalisation.
Gross production of electricity
Gross production of electricity is the production including own use.

Own use is the electricity that is used in electricity output.
Net production of electricity
Net production of electricity is the production excluding own use.

Own use is the electricity that is used in electricity output.
Production of electricity relative
Domestic production of renewable electricity as a percentage of total domestic electricity consumption.

The production of renewable electricity is compared with total electricity consumption and not against total electricity production. This choice is due to European conventions.
Gross production with normalisation
Gross production of renewable electricity corrected for weather conditions and including the indirect production from green gas.

Gross production is the production including own use. Own use is the electricity that is used in electricity output.

The normalized production has been calculated according to definitions from the EU Renewable Energy Directive from 2009. The binding targets from this guideline play an important role in Dutch energy policy. The production without normalisation is the actual physical production according to definitions from the standard national and international energy statistics.

There are two differences between the normalized figures and the figures without normalisation:
1. Correction for accidental weather conditions
2. Whether or not to include production of electricity from green gas.

Further explanation for 1: The normalized production in a given year is calculated as the capacity in the relevant year times the average production per unit capacity in the past five years (for wind) or fifteen years (for hydro power). The production of solar power is in principle also dependent on the weather. In the EU Directive, however, it has been agreed not to apply normalization for solar power.
Further explanation for 2: Green gas is biogas that has been upgraded to natural gas quality and injected into the natural gas network. A (small) part of the production of electricity from natural gas can thus be allocated to green gas. This allocation has been included in the normalized production of electricity; this allocation is not taken into account in production of electricity without normalisation.
Production without normalisation
Production of renewable electricity, not corrected for weather conditions and excluding the indirect production from green gas.

Green gas is biogas that has been upgraded to natural gas quality and injected into the natural gas network. A (small) part of the production of electricity from natural gas can thus be allocated to green gas. This allocation has been included in the normalized production of electricity; this allocation is not taken into account in production of electricity without normalisation.
Gross production of electricity
Gross production of electricity is the production including own use.

Own use is the electricity that is used in electricity output.
Net production of electricity
Net electricity production is the production excluding own use.

Own use is the electricity that is used in electricity output.
Installed installations
Installations, installed at the end of the reporting year.
Installations installed end of year
Number of installations installed at the end of the reporting year.
Electrical capacity end of year
Electrical capacity of installations installed at the end of the reporting year.

Electrical capacity is the amount of electricity that can be generated per unit of time during normal use of all available installations that produce electricity.