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The Netherlands shines as essential European energy shift chauffeur: Maguire

The Netherlands produced more of its electrical energy from solar farms than any other significant European economy in 2023, and was the only large European economy to enhance total electrical power output to near previous peaks last year regardless of sticking around economic woes.

For the first time, power producers in the Netherlands likewise generated over half of the country's overall electrical power output from tidy sources in 2023, thanks to record generation from solar and wind farms and the most affordable electrical power generation overall from fossil fuels this century.

Overall electricity output in the Netherlands in 2023 was 121.43 terawatt hours (TWh), according to energy think tank Cinder, which was less than half a portion point from the previous generation peak of 121.96 TWh set in 2020.

That high electricity generation overall stands in stark contrast with electricity output trends elsewhere in Europe: Generation overalls in Germany, France, Italy and Spain all stayed dramatically below previous peaks in 2023 due to enduring weak point in company energy usage due to high inflation rates and soft customer demand.

SOLAR SURGE

While wind power was the primary source of clean energy in the Netherlands in 2023, it is the fast increase of solar generation that has been the secret to the country's current standout electrical energy generation efficiency.

Electricity generation from solar farms was 20.63 TWh in 2023, which although less than the 29.15 TWh generated by wind farms was up over 450% from the solar output total from five years previously.

The surge in solar generation dwarfed the 176% swell in wind Electrical energy generation over the exact same duration, and was dramatically higher than the increase in solar generation seen in Germany, Italy, Spain and France because 2018.

The sharp climb in solar generation led to solar power representing 17% of overall electrical energy generated in the Netherlands in 2023, which was a record for the country and the greatest solar share among large economies throughout Europe.

The Netherlands' solar share even surpassed the 16.7% solar share in Spain, which boasts over 50% more photovoltaic solar generation possible than the Netherlands, according to World Bank data.

COMMERCIAL SCALE IMPORTS

Massive imports of solar panels and parts from China have been the main motorist fuelling the solar push in the Netherlands in the last few years.

For the past three years, the Netherlands has actually been the biggest single market for Chinese solar panel and module exports, representing an average of just over 23% of China's. solar capability exports since 2021.

Generous aids for roof planetary system installations. have actually been a major element behind the growth in domestic solar. uptake, with 2.6 million residences hosting over 22 million. kilowatts of solar generation capacity as of mid-2023, according. to the Netherlands' Central Bureau of Stats (CBS).

With a lack of space for standard utility-scale solar. and wind farms, the Dutch authorities have actually also shown. fantastic resourcefulness in deploying solar systems. The tops of cars and truck. parks, train stations, house blocks, storage facilities and old. churches have all been clad with panels, while structures developed. atop sheep farms and fruit fields have also been put to use to. improve the area used for solar generation.

The Dutch federal government strategies to phase out aids for. small solar installations from 2025 onwards, so the development. pace of solar panel imports and solar farm construction is. likely to slow in the coming years.

However prevalent societal support for the broader energy. shift away from fossil fuels looks set to sustain interest. in deepening solar's penetration into the Netherlands power. system over the near term.

And the country's clever use of minimal area to help in. power generation efforts is likely to spur similar solar uptake. efforts in other places, suggesting that the Netherlands' function as a. solar leader in Europe is unlikely to fade at any time soon.

The viewpoints revealed here are those of the author, a. columnist .

(source: Reuters)