Last year, 0.7% of Dutch electricity consumption was generated by the Netherlands' two offshore wind farms, according to the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Domestic offshore wind generated 784m kWh in 2012, a 5.5% increase on 2011.
No new offshore capacity came online last year, so the increase is likely to have been a result of better wind conditions and/or operational improvements, at the 128MW Princess Amalia or 108MW Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farms.
The Netherlands’ new government is keen to back additional offshore wind farms. Efforts are underway to progress the 600MW Gemini project and move towards construction of the 144MW near-shore Westermeerwind project.
Dutch offshore wind capacity could be far greater by the end of the decade, as Mitsubishi bought a 50% stake in Eneco’s 129MW Luchterduinen project, earlier this year.
Onshore wind generated 3.4% of Dutch electricity last year, while the 'renewable fraction' of municipal waste incineration accounted for 1.8%.
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