Electrification in the Netherlands 2017–2021

2. Technologies for electrification

In the council regulation there is no definition of electrification. Wikipedia (2022) provides this definition: Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of the Council Regulation the second part of this definition is most relevant. Therefore, for this note we propose to define electrification as using electricity as an energy source to provide a service previously met by other energy sources (mainly fossil fuels). In the Netherlands in recent years two main electrification technologies emerged:

  • Electric heat pumps for space heating and hot water, replacing natural gas
  • Electric cars replacing cars driven by fossil fuels

Potentially, electrification may also be used in industry (IEA, 2022). Statistics Netherlands does not collect data  on this yet and we are also not aware of substantial projects already in operation. Therefore, this paper will focus on the two above mentioned types of electrification.