As governments throughout Europe increase their climate ambitions for 2050, we have analysed what reaching a Net Zero power system would mean for the Netherlands. In this report we compare two scenarios: one based on enhancing current existing policies (Enhanced Policy) and a second one (Revised Policy) in which we optimized for system costs.
To ensure consistent policy until 2050 the government must make a choice now:
- In the Enhanced Policy scenario, the plan on phasing out subsidies for solar and wind by 2025 is implemented, but supported by a strong push for electrification and deployment of hydrogen
- Alternatively, as shown in our Revised Policy scenario, the government continues (and reintroduces) subsidies for wind and solar on top of efforts to increase electrifications and deploy hydrogen
Our Revised Policy scenario shows a more substantial use of wind and solar capacities and a reduction of cumulative CO2 emissions by up to 12% by 2050 compared to Enhanced Policy.
Importantly, we show that subsidising (or continuing to subsidise) wind and solar could save about €3 billion per year in system costs for the Netherlands, which would bring down total costs by 18% compared to our Enhanced Policy scenario.
This a limited, public version of our subscriber-only Strategic Insight Report. The full version provides additional deep-dives into the impacts of a Net Zero world on power prices, renewables capture prices, hydrogen market, and how to make sure demand is met at all times. Why not find out more about our Dutch Power Market and Renewables Service?
