Solar energy causes revolution in Dutch electricity market

The growth of solar energy has had a much greater impact on the Dutch energy infrastructure than was previously expected and taken into account.

As solar panels look set to supply a much greater share of domestic electricity needs in the future, gas and coal plants are growing increasingly unprofitable, and energy utilities are having to find new solutions for energy storage and smart-grid development.

According to experts, the growth in market share of solar energy could amount to much more than the 4000 MW that the companies and organizations united under the Dutch National Solar Energy Action Committee predicted for 2020. This projection was based on an annual growth of 25 per cent. Last year alone, the growth of the number of solar installations in the Netherlands amounted to more than 200 per cent. If annual growth turns out to be more like 50 percent than 25, the Netherlands will have reached a milestone of 1.5 million installed solar energy systems within five years, compared to the 100,000 that are already operational.