The cumulative installed solar power capacity of the Netherlands at the end of December 2021 reached 14.3 GW, according to the country's Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) translated as the Central Bureau of Statistics, with the addition of 3.3 GW during 2021.
The aggregate solar capacity increased from 11 GW in 2020, according to the CBS. Dutch New Energy Research (DNE Research) had pegged 2020 PV additions in the country to 2.93 GW. Wind energy on the other hand grew by only 1.2 GW in 2021 to a cumulative of 7.8 GW at the end of last year. In 2019, the country had installed 2.4 GW new solar.
Overall, the agency counts renewable electricity production to have increased by 22% YoY in 2021 to 39.1 billion kWh with solar power registering an improvement of 30% to 11.4 billion kWh. Wind energy grew its share by 17% to 17.9 billion kWh.
CBS says renewables accounted for 33% of the national electricity generation in 2021, having gone up from 27% in the previous year. Compared to its peers in rest of the European Union (EU), the share of renewable energy production of the Netherlands stood at 34% in 2021, up from 26% in 2020.
The annual numbers for 2021 are in line with those provided by SolarPower Europe (SPE) in its EU Market Outlook which it said was driven by the commercial rooftop segment. It pointed out that the Dutch nation could have done better had it not been for its 12 GW project pipeline facing challenges related to grid connections and land availability. SPE expects its cumulative PV capacity by 2025 to reach up to 30.2 GW under medium scenario and for it to add 17.1 GW new capacity between 2022 and 2025 (see EU Installs Record 25.9 GW Solar In 2021).
As per the CBS data, electricity production from fossil fuels fell by 11% on annual basis to 74.7 billion kWh, even though production from coal rose 72% to 16.5 billion kWh.