Electricity imports rose by 17% in 2006, said the government statistics office CBS on Monday. Imports now account for 22% of Dutch power consumption. Total consumption rose by 1.8%.

The reason for the lower domestic production is the liberalised energy market, said a CBS spokeswoman: ‘Foreign power plants have a fixed cost price for electricity while Dutch coal and gas plants adjust their production depending on peak and off-peak periods. This means that it’s sometimes cheaper to buy in foreign electricity during the off-peak times.’