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The Netherlands looks set to meet its self-imposed target for generating renewable energy by 2030. So says the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which has looked at the plans for solar and wind energy, among others, of the various regions in our country. The Planning Bureau's analysis shows that 37 to 45 terawatt hours of electricity are likely to be generated by wind and solar farms by 2030. The Netherlands has set 35 terawatt hours as its target in the Climate Agreement. So that seems well within reach. The PBL researchers do warn that all regions are not yet looking closely enough at the long term. Even more is needed to meet all climate goals. The Netherlands wants to be climate-neutral by 2050, which would require the amount of electricity generated to continue to grow by a factor of 3 to 5.

To meet that target, even more new solar and wind farms would have to be built, not only at sea but also on land. But so far, too few new projects are in the pipeline, the researchers warn. Projects are becoming increasingly difficult to set up because space is limited. For instance, the central government does not want solar projects in nature or on agricultural land. Conservation of nature and landscape is also often mentioned by residents as an important issue. PBL calls this a missed opportunity, because, according to the researchers, a solar farm and nature can also reinforce each other. ‘For instance, solar parks often provide favourable conditions for vegetation that is more interesting to animals than farmland. In Solar farm Klarenbeek near Apeldoorn, for example, toad pools and 145 planted trees have been added at the insistence of local residents.’ There is also a risk that projects cannot go ahead because the power grid is too full to connect the solar or wind farm, or because of stricter regulations, e.g. distance rules for wind turbines.