Pellets consumption in Netherlands

The pellet usage is based on industrial pellets’ usage for power production mostly, and to lesser extent, on non -industrial pellets’ usage for heating.

Wood pellets’ usage in the Netherlands - 2005 until 2008

Currently Netherlands’ power plants process more than 95% of overall wood pellets’ percentage via co-firing. Otherwise saying, the pellets’ market is a large -scale one, but related to power generation mostly. Despite maximum theoretical co-firing percentage had not been yet achieved, the market is rapidly growing.

Approximately 6 power plants apply wood pellets‘ co-firing technique. (between 1% and 20% of total input). The replacement occurs at co-fired power stations only, wood pellets have replaced approximately 2.8% of coal (in terms of electricity production) in 2008. The Essent utility company is currently the biggest wood pellets consumer, which co-fires several hundred thousands tons of wood pellets every year at Amer power station. Plus another large scale user has started to use wood pellets instead of waste wood since 1st quarter of 2008. The power generation had some functional problems with waste wood refining: hammer mill turned off few times per year, and required a lot of repair. 


Netherlands do not practice a lot the use of wood pellets for domestic heating via small boilers. It happens due to a few specific support schemes, natural gas network via all country and highly efficient natural gas boilers, and due to the lack of space for wood pellets storage (typical Dutch houses are without a cellar).

Image 2: Renewable electricity generation in the Netherlands – 2007 until 2008

The renewable energy sources electricity generation grew in 2007 from 6.00% to 7.5 % of overall national volume of generated energy. Onshore wind farms and biomass co-firing are the main sources of energy generation. The country government plans to achieve the 9% renewable electricity level by the end of 2010 and the 20% one by the end of 2020. Large power generation plants co-fired in 2008 about 25% more biomass (mainly wood pellets and agro residues, animal manure) than in 2007. Due to another subsidy program the renewable energy generation grew in 2005 and 2006. The overall amount of energy usage was 119,000 Gwh, and wood pellets energy share makes about 1,700 GWh.