SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy

SDG 7 aims to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy by 2030. Energy is indispensable in our society, but much of it still comes from fossil sources such as gas, oil and coal. For the Netherlands, SDG 7 is mainly about affordability, energy security, sustainability and energy efficiency.

• Energy use is declining.
• The share of renewable energy is increasing.
• While the proportion of households living in energy poverty is falling, a growing share of households are unable to heat their homes adequately.

Dashboard and indicators

Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being

Resources and opportunities refers to the availability and production costs of energy and investments in renewable energy. Investments in renewable energy and energy savings are increasing, totalling 1.6 percent of GDP in 2023. Investments in renewable energy and energy savings mainly focus on wind and solar energy, insulation, and the reuse and extraction of heat from waste streams, solar, air, soil or water, and biomass, as well as energy-saving technologies, for both households and businesses.

The renewable energy sector accounted for 0.9 percent of total employment in 2023. Employment in this sector includes jobs at companies and organisations that produce renewable energy (operational phase), as well as at companies active in all the pre- and post-operational stages. This includes activities related to energy savings, renewable energy systems and making fossil energy more sustainable (e.g. capturing and storing carbon dioxide).

Since the Netherlands’ current energy supply still relies heavily on fossil fuels, energy security depends on sufficient fossil energy reserves. Gas stocks make it possible to accommodate temporary shortages or supply interruptions, due to cold weather for example. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission introduced mandatory gas storage regulations. This meant that all European member states were required to ensure that at least 90 percent of their gas storage facilities were filled by 1 November in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, Dutch gas storage facilities were filled to 90.8 percent capacity at the start of the heating season.

Oil and gas reserves that can be considered extractable from an economic and societal point of view have declined sharply in recent years, down to 0.2 terajoules per inhabitant in 2024. Decisions about the Groningen gas field have played a major role in this decline. The winding down of natural gas extraction in Groningen will make achieving the climate objectives of SDG 13 more challenging. This is because the Groningen gas has a relatively low carbon footprint compared to alternatives, such as natural gas from Russia or liquefied gas from the United States.

The European gas market is now highly interconnected, and countries have agreed to support each other in times of shortage. As a result, the energy dependence of the EU as a whole has become more important for the Netherlands. The Netherlands imported 68.9 percent of its energy in 2024. Before 2017, the peak of this dependency was in 1970, when it reached 51.5 percent. Since 2017, imports have accounted for more than half of Dutch energy consumption each year. The vast majority of Dutch households still use gas for heating, hot water and cooking. At the same time, the share of homes that use little natural gas is steadily growing. In 2023, it stood at 11.6 percent. These homes are primarily heated using district heating or electricity, with little to no reliance on supplementary gas-based systems.

Use refers to the amount of energy used and saved. Total energy consumption is decreasing: in 2024, it stood at 145.2 gigajoules per inhabitant, which is still high compared to other EU countries. This can partly be attributed to the nature of the Netherlands’ economic activities: Dutch industry produces many energy-intensive products, such as base metals and basic chemicals, which are then exported and processed in other countries using less energy-intensive methods. Housing accounts for a share of total energy consumption. In line with the overall decrease in energy consumption, residential energy use is also falling, reaching 39.5 gigajoules in 2023 – the lowest value since measurements began in 1995.

The amount of energy consumed relative to the size of the economy is decreasing. This is partly due to a shift in the structure of the Dutch economy, away from manufacturing and towards services. When energy-intensive production processes are moved abroad, they may be carried out in ways that are less energy-efficient. From a global perspective, this has a negative impact on the climate objectives of SDG 13. Shorter chains between extraction and the production of finished products can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Efficiency gains (e.g. through energy savings and insulation) play a role here as well. Meanwhile, there have been noticeable improvements in the energy efficiency of specific activities in industry, transport, households and services (e.g. heating homes, producing a kilogram of steel or driving one kilometre in a petrol-driven car). In 2022, the energy efficiency of these activities improved by 2.7 percent compared to the previous year.

Outcomes refers to the affordability, sustainability and wastage of energy. The share of renewable energy is increasing, rising to 17.4 percent in 2023. This puts the Netherlands in 20^th place in the EU, significantly behind the frontrunner Sweden (66.4 percent).

Energy has become significantly more expensive in recent years. While the government did offer compensation to households to mitigate the impact of these price rises, the proportion of households reporting they were unable to heat their homes adequately increased to 7.1 percent in 2023 and 2024. This figure had already nearly doubled in 2022, to 5.3 percent (versus 2.4 percent in 2021). The share of income spent on energy costs also increased, from 3.0 percent in 2022 to 5.2 percent in 2023. Conversely, the proportion of low-income households with high energy bills and/or a poorly insulated home is actually decreasing. In 2023, these represented 4.8 percent of all households. One possible explanation for the decline in the prevalence of energy poverty is that the government has provided highly targeted energy compensation to low-income households.

The frequency of power outages gives an indication of the reliability and security of the energy supply. The Dutch power grid is highly reliable. In 2024, households and businesses experienced an average total outage duration of 24 minutes. Incidentally, there have been more planned outages due to large-scale maintenance of the power grid.

Subjective assessment refers to satisfaction with the price and availability of energy. The proportion of consumers who are satisfied or very satisfied with their own energy supplier’s services was 71 percent in 2024. More than half (55 percent) of consumers were (very) satisfied with the rates offered by their energy supplier.