Netherlands net exporter of electricity since October 2009
18-01-2010
The Netherlands has been a net exporter of electricity since October 2009, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and national electricity transmission operator TenneT confirmed. For the last three months of 2009, more electricity was exported to surrounding countries than was imported. One of the reasons for this major shift is the lower price of electricity in the Netherlands compared to neighbouring countries. Nevertheless, the Netherlands was still an importer of electricity over 2009 as a whole.
In December, the Netherlands exported 1.3 million MWh of electricity to Belgium, Germany and Norway. Imports during that period totalled 1.1 million MWh.In the fourth quarter of 2009, prices for electricity in the Netherlands were lower than in surrounding countries, primarily due to declining consumption as a consequence of the economic crisis and because of a considerable decrease in gas prices. Because Dutch production capacity consists predominantly of gas-fired power plants, the decrease in gas prices has had more of an effect on electricity prices than in Germany, as production capacity there largely consists of coal-fired power plants. As a result, more electricity has been exported to Germany. From October onwards, Belgium imported a considerable amount of electricity from the Netherlands because of France’s diminished production capacity due to large-scale maintenance work on power plants. Along with the standard higher demand for electricity during autumn and winter, this has led to higher electricity prices in France.
In the Netherlands, the additional exported electricity was predominantly produced in natural gas power plants. In October 2009 more than 1 billion m3 of natural gas was utilised for the production of electricity, an unprecedented figure in natural gas usage over the course of a single month. Particularly some high-output gas-fired power plants produced exceptionally large amounts of electricity. As a result of high output and relatively low natural gas prices, these power stations are now enjoying an enviable position on the market.
Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) is responsible for collecting and processing data in order to publish statistics to be used in practice, by policymakers and for scientific research. In addition to its responsibility for (official) national statistics, CBS also has the task of producing European (community) statistics.
TenneT TSO B.V.
In its capacity as transmission grid operator and national high-voltage grid operator, TenneT is responsible for the ‘highways’ of the Dutch electricity grid (totalling some 9,000 km), which connects all regional grids to one another and to the European grid. Besides managing the national transmission grid, TenneT also monitors the reliability and continuity of the Dutch electricity supply. To facilitate import and export, TenneT is investing in a number of new interconnections over the coming years, including a fourth cross‑border interconnection with Germany (Doetinchem to Wesel) and subsea cable links to the United Kingdom (BritNed) and Denmark (COBRA). Together, these projects will create an even greater convergence of electricity prices in Europe, whereupon consumers will be able to pay the right price for electricity.
