Costs and revenues of centrally generated electricity in the Netherlands

The existing statistics on centrally generated electricity in the Netherlands do not give an integral picture of costs and revenues. This report intends to fill this gap. It contains a systematic overview of the costs of fuel, capital, other generation costs and the costs of distribution. A detailed overview is given for 1976 and 1977 and the main trends in the period 1950/1980 are considered. From these trends it appears that the increase of revenues from electricity in the last 30 years (from f 400 mln in 1950 to f 8,000 mln in 1980) has been caused by a tenfold increase of electricity consumption and a doubling of the average nominal kWh-charge. The quadrupling of fuel costs in the last 7 years is responsible for the doubling of this kWh-charge. A correction for inflation (since 1950 5%/year) shows, however, that the real kWh-charge in 1980 is only half the kWh-charge in 1950. A discussion on electricity from incineration is included. Because of increasing fuel charges and the difficulties with the disposal of domestic waste this option must be taken into account for future energy supply. The costs of nuclear power are treated in some detail, partly because of the public interest in this subject. It is shown that the costs of electricity from existing nuclear capacity and the estimates of these costs for new nuclear capacity are subject to an increasing trend. This last statement is true as well for electricity from conventional capacity