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Sustainable energy system
Energy market
End consumers
Energy transition
Facts & Figures Collective Heat Supply Act
Contribution to heat production per energy carrier
Contribution to heat generation by energy carrier (in TJ) – Source: CBS
The heating sector is facing an extraordinarily difficult challenge, as can be seen in the chart above. Gas is by far the most important source of heat in the Netherlands, as is shown in the chart above. The contribution of gas in heat production did not drop below 150 PJ between 1998 and 2013. Although Dutch gas consumption for heat has dropped steadily since 2010, it still exceeds the second most important source, biomass, by a factor of 5. However, the rise of biomass since 2010 is also remarkable: this source, which then contributed only 5 PJ of heat production, now produces five times as much heat (25 PJ). 2010 also marked the disappearance of oil for heating purposes in 2009. Coal and other fossil fuels have also gradually declined.
Main residential heating systems
Main household heating installations 2021 (in %) – Source: CBS
As previously mentioned, the Dutch heating sector is largely dominated by gas. In 2021, 82% of homes was heated by individual central heating boilers, down from 85% in 2017. Another 5-6% of homes was heated by block heating – communal boilers heating multiple homes.
In recent years, however, a slow increase in renewable heat has been observed in the form of heat grids/district heating and heat pumps. The percentage of homes heated by district heating increased from 5.7% in 2017 to 6.7% in 2021. In contrast, the use of heat pumps more than tripled, going from 0.7% to 2.4% of homes heated this way. Although these technologies are still in their early stages, they are considered essential for the future of the heating market.
Heat pumps
Growth of heat pumps in numbers – Source: CBS
Even though heat pumps are currently still a relatively small player in the heating market, they have experienced tremendous growth in recent years. Throughout the 1990s, the number of heat pumps in operation in the Netherlands never rose above 10,000. By 2010, there are approximately 100,000 heat pumps. By the end of the decade, there were 750,000 heat pumps in the Netherlands. Subsequently, this number rose to almost 1.9 million in only three years’ time. This is equivalent to a current installed capacity of 13,000 MW and a heat production of approximately 32,000 TJ.
Facts & Figures Transition of the Built Environment
Domestic energy labels
Homes per energy label 2023 (in %) – Source: energiecijfers databank
Total amount of homes by energy label – Source: energiecijfers databank
The figure above shows the change in energy labels for homes in the Netherlands since 2015, tracking the number of homes per energy label during this time.
The most striking trend is the steep and steady increase of homes with energy label A, which has grown from less than 200,000 in 2015 to approximately 1.7 million in 2023. This has made label A by far the most common label. In second place is label C with 1.2 million homes and an increase of 200,000 since 2015. Label B is at approximately 0.8 million, almost doubling since 2015. This shows that the housing stock has become more sustainable.
Labels E through G, on the other hand, are stagnant or have declined slightly. This means that the stock of unsustainable homes has not changed much. Label D is around 550,000, with a slight decrease. Labels E and F have retained their numbers of 350,000 and 200,000 respectively. Unfortunately, the number of houses with label G has almost doubled, from less than 100,000 to almost 200,000. Despite this growth, homes with label G are still the smallest group. As such, the chart shows an overall improvement in the sustainability of the housing stock since 2015.
Average Domestic Gas and Electricity Consumption
Average household gas and electricity consumption (in m3 and kWh) – Source: CBS
As well as improved energy labels, the energy transition of the built environment has also manifested itself in the form of a drop in gas and electricity consumption by households. Gas and electricity consumption has gradually decreased over the last ten years, partly as a result of energy-efficient devices, partly as a result of better insulation of the homes, and partly as a result of a change in awareness. As can be seen above, average electricity consumption has dropped form 3300 kWh per year to 2800 kWh per year. Household gas consumption has fallen from 1850 cubic meters per year to a little under 1300 cubic meters.
Domestic carbon emissions
Household CO2 emissions (in mln kg) – Source: CBS
The ultimate goal of the transition is – of course – to reduce the carbon emitted by the built environment. As required by the EU FitFor55 package, the Netherlands aims to reduce carbon emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030.
The chart above shows the trend in domestic carbon emissions over the last 30 years. The annual emissions fluctuated between 20 and 25 billion kg of CO2 per year from 1990 to 2015. Since then, emissions have fallen below 20 billion. As the chart shows, the transition of the built environment will require extra attention if we want to achieve all our goals.
