Production and export of electricity at record levels – Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek | CBS

Energy companies and other producers in the Netherlands generated a total of 132 billion kWh of electricity in 2025. That was the most ever. After years of decline, production from fossil fuels increased once again. Electricity generated from solar energy was also up, while electricity exports reached a new high. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the basis of new figures.
Electricity production has increased significantly over the past decade. In 2025, energy companies and other producers, such as operators of wind and solar parks and households with solar panels, produced a quarter more electricity than in 2015. This increase is mainly due to higher demand from other countries. As a result, more electricity was exported and less was imported. In addition, more of the demand for electricity in the Netherlands was met through domestic production. Total electricity consumption in the Netherlands is now hardly growing at all.

Electricity production
Jaar Fossil fuels (billion kWh) Renewables (billion kWh) Nuclear + Other (billion kWh)
2015 87.476 13.091 5.186
2016 91.881 14.168 5.007
2017 91.909 16.827 4.721
2018 88.754 18.235 3.853
2019 91.619 22.048 4.193
2020 83.731 31.782 4.326
2021 74.942 38.888 4.089
2022 66.285 46.511 4.479
2023 58.061 55.482 4.286
2024 55.515 60.675 4.036
2025* 63.017 64.278 4.473
* provisional figures

Around 17 percent more electricity was produced from solar energy in 2025 compared with 2024. This is mainly because 2025 was a very sunny year, but the total installed capacity of solar panels was also higher (by 4 percent). The amount of electricity produced from solar energy has increased more than twentyfold over the past decade.
Less electricity was produced from onshore wind energy. Less favourable wind conditions on land were an important reason for this. At the end of 2025, the total installed capacity for wind energy was 7.0 GW onshore and 4.7 GW offshore. More electricity was generated from offshore wind in 2025 than in 2024. This was largely because the new wind farms that came online in 2024 were producing energy for the whole year in 2025.
More electricity was also produced from biomass, which was used to co-fire coal power stations, for instance.
Total electricity production from renewable sources was slightly higher: up by 6 percent on 2024. Compared to 2015, it was almost five times higher. Renewable sources accounted for 49 percent of total electricity production in 2025, and were the most important source of electricity production – just as they were in 2024.

Electricity production from renewable sources
Jaar Solar (billion kWh) Onshore wind (billion kWh) Offshore wind (billion kWh) Biomass (billion kWh) Hyrdo (billion kWh)
2015 1.109 6.420 1.130 4.339 0.093
2016 1.602 5.901 2.269 4.296 0.100
2017 2.204 6.869 3.700 3.993 0.061
2018 3.708 6.918 3.630 3.906 0.072
2019 5.399 7.935 3.573 5.067 0.074
2020 8.567 9.794 5.484 7.891 0.046
2021 11.304 9.813 7.865 9.817 0.088
2022 16.657 13.134 7.936 8.733 0.050
2023 19.607 17.482 11.553 6.771 0.069
2024 21.822 17.657 15.182 5.929 0.085
2025* 25.520 16.423 15.614 6.664 0.057
* provisional figures

Electricity generated using fossil fuels was up by 14 percent year on year. A total of 48 percent of electricity production came from fossil fuels.
Compared to 2024, 11 percent more electricity was produced using natural gas, and 25 percent more was produced using coal. Over the longer term, however, electricity production using coal has fallen and was 70 percent lower in 2025 than it was in 2015.

Electricity production from fossil sources
Jaar Natrual gas (billion kWh) Coal (billion kWh) Oil derivatives & + other non-renewable fuels (billion kWh)
2015 44.567 40.195 2.714
2016 51.422 37.762 2.697
2017 56.596 32.737 2.576
2018 56.462 29.318 2.974
2019 69.407 19.250 2.962
2020 71.196 9.601 2.934
2021 55.520 16.497 2.925
2022 46.672 16.481 3.132
2023 44.976 10.146 2.939
2024 43.232 9.586 2.697
2025* 47.958 11.960 3.099
* provisional figures

Electricity exports reached a record high in 2025, at 30 billion kWh. That was a rise of a quarter compared to 2024. Exports to Germany and Belgium increased, in particular.
Exports of electricity to Germany increased by almost half. The main reasons for this was reduced wind power production off the German coast and reduced production in Switzerland and Austria due to lower water levels.
Exports to Belgium increased by almost a quarter. A major cause of this was reduced electricity production in Belgian nuclear power plants.
Electricity imports fell by 19 percent, particularly from Germany, Belgium and Norway. Dutch electricity imports have almost halved over the past decade. The main reason for this is that the Netherlands is generating ever more electricity of its own.

Import and export of electricity
Jaar Net import/export (billion kWh) Import (billion kWh) Export (billion kWh)
2015 8.748 30.760 -22.012
2016 4.915 24.258 -19.343
2017 3.506 22.458 -18.952
2018 7.970 26.755 -18.785
2019 0.855 20.403 -19.548
2020 -2.660 19.773 -22.433
2021 0.253 20.885 -20.632
2022 -4.267 18.544 -22.811
2023 -5.659 19.547 -25.206
2024 -4.221 20.028 -24.249
2025* -14.048 16.307 -30.355
* provisional figures

The Caribbean Netherlands in numbers 2025

The Netherlands in numbers 2025

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