The share of renewables in the Dutch gross final energy consumption rose from 8.8% in 2019 to 11.1% in 2020, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Most of the renewable consumption was biomass (6% of final energy consumption), followed by wind (2.5%), solar (1.5%) and others (1%).
The increase was due to rising solar and wind power capacity, as well as growing biomass consumption, especially co-firing at coal-fired power plants. In 2020, the installed wind capacity rose from 4.5 GW to 6.6 GW (mainly thanks to the 752 MW Borssele-1-2 offshore wind project commissioned in late 2020), while solar capacity surged by 3 GW to 10 GW in 2020. Where biomass is concerned, the share of biomass in coal-fired power generation rose from 10% in 2019 to 39% in 2020, due to subsidies and higher carbon prices; in addition, the use of biogas and solid and liquid biomass at companies rose during the year.
The share of renewables in final consumption was expected to reach 14% in 2020. Consequently, the Netherlands had to buy between 8 and 16 TWh of renewable energy from Denmark to achieve the agreed target at the EU level.