Gail Rajgor investigates the research and development landscape in the Netherlands and the Government’s endeavours towards promoting renewables growth. With wind power on the rise and a focus on boosting solar PV, the country is working towards a goal for renewables to supply 16% of the country's electricity supply by 2023. 

Gail also explores some of the initiatives Dutch companies are pursuing, such as the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and its work in developing a new bifacial solar panel design and ECN’s launch of Tessera, a solar module concept that differs from standard solar panels. The article also draws attention to some of the partnerships that are taking place across the country, with comment from researchers participating in the Solliance Solar Research project on the development of technologies like CIGS and perovskite.  Gail also writes about the Top Consortium for Knowledge and Innovation Offshore Wind (TKI Wind Op Zee) and its mission to facilitate cooperation between the government, universities and businesses in order to drastically reduce the cost of offshore wind. Overall, this article demonstrates a concerted effort to develop R&D in the renewable sector and bring the Netherlands closer to its goal of the country’s energy supply to be carbon neutral by 2050.