Better late than never: The Netherlands meets 2013 wind energy target

At the end of 2022, onshore wind turbines in the Netherlands had a capacity of over six gigawatts, meaning the country met the wind energy targets that were set during the 2013 climate agreement - two years later than initially planned.

Over 6 gigawatts of onshore wind capacity in the Netherlands

As part of the climate agreement set out by the Dutch government in 2013, the Netherlands committed to having enough onshore wind turbines to generate 6 gigawatts of energy. This goal was initially due to be reached by 2020 but by 2017, it became clear that the country was behind schedule, so the deadline was extended until 2023. 

Now, two years later than the initial deadline, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has confirmed that by the end of 2022, there were 6,045 gigawatts of onshore wind capacity. “With wind capacity at the end of 2022 of 6,045,” the RVO explains, “the expected share of onshore wind energy is 17,9 terawatt hours of energy production in an average wind year.”

The Netherlands due to scale up wind energy capacity by 2030

According to the RVO, “wind energy capacity is expected to increase by 835 megawatts” in 2023, and provinces and municipalities are working together to “generate at least 35 terawatt hours of sustainable electricity on land in the Netherlands by 2030 with large-scale solar and wind energy projects.”

Thumb: fokke baarssen via Shutterstock.com.