The future energy supply of the Netherlands will be a mix of electricity and gasses
In 2018, the Dutch government decided to strive for a fossil-free energy supply by 2050 at the latest. Following that purpose and because of all the problems surrounding gas extraction in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands was supposed to get rid of gas as quickly as possible. What is the current state of that electrification decision? Has the role of gas in the energy mix completely been played out? Kiwa conducted research and published the results in the report “How the Dutch all-electric ambition was caught up by reality”.
In the report, Kiwa notes that electricity alone is not a feasible way forward and describes in detail how the Dutch all-electric plans are caught up by reality. Since 2018, in the Netherlands, the amount of green electricity production is growing, more and more homes are heated electrically, industrial electricity demand is increasing, and a growing number of electric cars are appearing on the road. However, the Dutch electricity grid is not built to cope with the required amount of (de)centralized green electricity production, which is already leading to huge net congestion issues. Moreover, needed materials are lacking and there is a huge shortage of technically skilled personnel.
In the report “How the Dutch all-electric ambition was caught up by reality”, Kiwa charts the evolution towards the current situation based on numerous public sources, including letters to parliament, legislation, related press releases, and interviews with experts. ‘We have mapped out the current situation in the Netherlands, as it is unknown to some, especially abroad’ says Sjoerd Delnooz of Kiwa Technology. ‘In the Netherlands, a mix of green gas, biogas, central heating, green electricity and hydrogen will become the energy of the future. This may happen at a different pace in other European countries as well. Therefore, this reconstruction may be relevant for countries currently in the process of defining or reconstructing their energy strategy to realize the energy transition.’
