Electricity price in the Netherlands today
The spot price of electricity hour by hour in NL (NL), Friday, 23 October 2026.
The Netherlands is a single bidding zone with a power system in rapid transition. Gas-fired plants still produce more electricity than any other source, yet offshore wind in the North Sea and an unusually large amount of rooftop solar now push the wholesale price below zero on sunny, breezy days. Within one day the price can swing from negative at noon to expensive in the evening.
For households, taxes weigh as much as the market. Energy tax is charged on every kWh, and VAT at 21% is added on top of both the electricity and the tax. Dynamic contracts that pass on the hourly price are widespread, so for many Dutch homes the curve on this page is more than an abstraction.
Today electricity costs 13.4 c/kWh in NL (NL) on average.
LiveSource: Bundesnetzagentur | SMARD.de
Hour by hour
The three cheapest hours in a row are 21–00 (average 9.1 c/kWh). The dearest hour is 08–09.
Show every hour as a table
| Hour | Spot price (c/kWh) | With 21% VAT | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00–01 | 16.8 | 20.3 | Dear |
| 01–02 | 15.4 | 18.7 | Dear |
| 02–03 | 14.1 | 17.0 | Middle |
| 03–04 | 13.7 | 16.5 | Middle |
| 04–05 | 13.2 | 15.9 | Middle |
| 05–06 | 13.7 | 16.6 | Middle |
| 06–07 | 15.6 | 18.9 | Dear |
| 07–08 | 18.3 | 22.2 | Dear |
| 08–09 | 20.5 | 24.9 | Dear |
| 09–10 | 17.9 | 21.7 | Dear |
| 10–11 | 14.3 | 17.3 | Dear |
| 11–12 | 11.6 | 14.1 | Cheap |
| 12–13 | 10.1 | 12.2 | Cheap |
| 13–14 | 9.6 | 11.6 | Cheap |
| 14–15 | 10.7 | 12.9 | Cheap |
| 15–16 | 10.9 | 13.2 | Cheap |
| 16–17 | 11.8 | 14.2 | Cheap |
| 17–18 | 13.1 | 15.9 | Middle |
| 18–19 | 14.0 | 16.9 | Middle |
| 19–20 | 14.7 | 17.8 | Dear |
| 20–21 | 13.1 | 15.8 | Middle |
| 21–22 | 10.4 | 12.6 | Cheap |
| 22–23 | 9.5 | 11.5 | Cheap |
| 23–00 | 7.3 | 8.9 | Cheap |
The spot price is the exchange price, the average of the hour's four quarter-hour prices, before taxes, network tariffs and VAT.
Where does the electricity in the Netherlands come from?
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh).
Household price since 2023
Average price per kWh, all-in, for a household using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year. Source: Eurostat (nrg_pc_204).
A household in the Netherlands using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 24.4 c/kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, 2% more than a year before (Eurostat).
Eurostat's figure for each half-year, with taxes, levies, network costs and VAT. Updated twice a year.
How the electricity price works in the Netherlands
A free market supervised by ACM
The Dutch day-ahead price is set every day in the European market coupling, and TenneT runs the high-voltage grid. There is no regulated retail price. Suppliers offer fixed-price contracts, variable contracts they can adjust periodically, and dynamic contracts in which the price per kWh follows the day-ahead market. The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) supervises suppliers, watches whether their tariffs are reasonable and sets the rules for the network tariffs of TenneT and the regional operators such as Liander, Stedin and Enexis.
Energy tax, a fixed network charge and 21% VAT
A Dutch bill combines the supply cost (a price per kWh plus a fixed delivery charge), the grid operator's charges and taxes. For a household, network costs are a fixed amount per day that depends on the size of the connection, not on how much is used. Energy tax is 0.09161 €/kWh excluding VAT in 2026 for the first 10,000 kWh, and VAT at 21% is charged on everything, the tax included. A fixed annual tax reduction per connection is then subtracted, which softens the burden for low users.
Gas prices, sea wind and midday solar
The Netherlands hosts TTF, the trading hub whose price is Europe's benchmark for gas, and in the many hours when gas plants set the electricity price, the two move together. Wind and solar pull the other way. On bright spring and summer days, solar output can exceed what the country uses and can export, so prices dip below zero around noon before climbing again after sunset. The grid itself has become a constraint: in many regions new businesses and large consumers wait for a connection because the network is full.
Gas plants, North Sea wind and millions of solar roofs
Gas-fired power stations remain the largest single source, but their share is shrinking as offshore wind farms in the North Sea come online and solar panels spread across roofs, fields and car parks; per inhabitant, Dutch solar capacity is among the highest in Europe. Coal is in decline, and a law bans burning it for electricity from 2030. The single nuclear reactor at Borssele supplies a small share and biomass much of the rest. Gas production at Groningen, once one of Europe's largest fields, has ended.
Cables to five neighbours
Interconnectors tie the Dutch price to several different weather systems. NorNed runs under the North Sea to Norway, whose hydro reservoirs can soak up surplus wind and send power back when the wind drops. COBRAcable connects with western Denmark and BritNed with Great Britain. Over land, Germany, with its wind, solar, coal and lignite, and Belgium, with its nuclear plants, have different mixes, yet the Dutch price often sits close to the German one because the markets are so tightly linked.
Netherlands compared with its neighbours
In 2024, gas made 36%, wind made 27% and solar made 18% of the electricity generated in the Netherlands. Wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy together made 53% of generation in the Netherlands.
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh). Pumped hydro is left out. United Kingdom: NESO, historic generation mix, without imports and pumped storage.
Voltly: your own electricity price in the Netherlands
Voltly shows the hourly prices in NL (NL) with taxes, network tariff and VAT, so you see what the hour really costs.
Hourly prices for your bidding zone, all-in, the cheapest hours and the price on your lock screen.
Questions about the electricity price in the Netherlands
- What does electricity cost in the Netherlands today?
- In NL (NL) the spot price averages 13.4 c/kWh today. It is cheapest at 23–00 with 7.3 c/kWh and dearest at 08–09 with 20.5 c/kWh. Network tariffs, taxes and VAT come on top.
- What does an ordinary household in the Netherlands pay for electricity?
- A household in the Netherlands using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 24.4 c/kWh per kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, according to Eurostat. The price varies with the network company and the contract.
- How much of the electricity in the Netherlands comes from gas?
- 36% of the electricity generated in the Netherlands came from gas in 2024 (Eurostat), the largest single source.
- What changes when net metering (saldering) ends?
- Until the end of 2026, households with solar panels may offset the electricity they feed into the grid against what they draw, kWh for kWh, including energy tax and VAT. From 1 January 2027 this salderingsregeling ends: power fed in earns a payment from the supplier, and every kWh taken from the grid is charged in full. Using solar power at home therefore becomes worth more than exporting it.
- What is the belastingvermindering?
- It is a fixed annual tax reduction for each connection with a residential function, deducted on the energy bill whatever the consumption. The government sets the amount each year. For a household that uses little electricity it cancels out a large part of the energy tax; for a heavy user it matters less.
- Why don't Dutch network costs depend on how much I use?
- For small connections, the regional grid operators charge a fixed daily tariff based on the capacity of the connection rather than a price per kWh, on the reasoning that grid costs are driven mainly by capacity. Saving electricity therefore lowers the supply cost and the energy tax, but not the network charge.