Electricity sector in the Netherlands

rdf:langString Electricity sector in the Netherlands

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rdf:langString The total electricity consumption of the Netherlands in 2013 was 119 terawatt-hour (TWh). The consumption grew from 7 TWh in 1950 by an average of 4.5% per year. As of 2012, the main resources for electricity in the Netherlands are fossil fuels, such as natural gas and coal. In 2012, fossil fuels accounted for 81% of the produced electricity. Renewable energy sources, such as biomass, wind power and solar power, produce 12% of the total electricity. There is one nuclear plant in the Netherlands, in Borssele, which is responsible for about 3.5% of total generation. The majority of the electricity, more than 60%, is produced centrally by thermal and nuclear units. From 2005 to 2008, the Netherlands imported 13–15% of its electricity. After 2008, however, the share of imported electricity went down drastically; in 2009, the Netherlands became a net exporter of electricity. Then, in 2011, the import balance increased again sharply. This development continued in 2012 and 2013. From 56.1 PJ in 2010, to almost twice the amount in 2015: 110.7 PJ. The cause of the increase in electricity imports has to do with the development of energy prices. The natural gas price rose sharply in 2011 and 2012, while the price of coal rose again in 2011, but fell sharply in 2012 and 2013. Additionally, the supply of cheap electricity in neighbouring countries rose relatively strongly, which made imports more attractive. Before 1998, utilities were allowed to own an electricity network and sell the electricity at the same time, which gave companies that owned the network unfair advantages over companies that were only active in the retail of electricity. This prompted a restructuring of the electricity sector in the Netherlands with the introduction of the Electricity Act in 1998. This Act demanded the decoupling between utilities and electricity supply. Generation and retail of electricity in the Netherlands were liberalised. However, the transmission and distribution were and are still centralised and operated by the system operator and the utilities. The system operator and utilities have a monopoly position in the energy market. Therefore, to guarantee the rights of consumers and businesses in the electricity sector, these parties have to be regulated. Authority for Consumers and Markets was founded to this end in 2013. The system operator, TenneT, is the only stakeholder responsible for managing the high-voltage grid (between a voltage of 110 kV to 380 kV) in the Netherlands. There are seven utility companies that own the regional energy grids: Cogas Infra en Beheer, Enduris, Enexis, Liander, Stedin Netbeheer, and Westland Infra Netbeheer.