The World Energy Outlook 2025 confirms what we experience daily in the Netherlands: many players are taking action, but we are not moving fast enough. In their report, the IEA shows that we are heading toward an increase in global electricity demand of about 40% by 2035 — the “age of electricity”.
Ambitions are high and efforts are growing, but execution is lagging. This while electrification in buildings, industry, mobility, and data centers already accounts for a large part of the additional energy demand. Every party — energy companies, municipalities, housing associations, banks — is taking steps. Often good ones. But the pace varies greatly, and without coherence we lose valuable time. What can be improved in the short and long term?
1. Integrally serving vulnerable groups
Many municipalities and partners are working hard on making homes more sustainable. But an honest look shows that the groups who need it most are often the least reached. Not due to lack of effort, but due to complex regulations, fragmented subsidies, and limited capacity. The question is no longer how to make pilot projects succeed. The question is how to support thousands of households per month in a way that remains feasible — especially in a world where energy prices, climate pressure, and electrification reinforce one another.
2. The proven but underutilized potential of rooftops
The Netherlands has enormous rooftop potential. Yet a large part remains unused due to fragmentation, shifting frameworks, and a lack of predictability. The WEO-scenario’s show that electricity will play a much larger role in all cases. There is no debate about whether rooftops are part of the solution — they already are. The debate should be about how to integrate them faster and smarter into a national implementation strategy, clearly bringing into focus all six rooftop use options, from sedum to solar. If we keep waiting for perfect conditions, we’ll fall behind the curve.
3. The Hague can help by bringing stability
Practice sends one clear signal: stable policy is lacking. Not ideas. Not ambition. The WEO highlights that the countries making the fastest progress do so thanks to consistent, predictable frameworks for investment and execution.
What’s needed:
- predictable multi-year frameworks for energy generation and housing sustainability,
- real continuity in financing,
- and an integrated vision on grid capacity, storage and flexibility.
Without stability, implementation remains sluggish, reactive, and expensive. The practical field is full of insights that can help make policy more effective and less fragile. The next step is not a new plan, but a better connection between plans and practice. We are ready to share our insights and help build an acceleration that is realistic, feasible, and inclusive.
This is the moment to push forward — not to adjust, but to truly accelerate. Shall we increase the pace together with realism, focus, and impact? Schedule a meeting with Gijs-Jan.