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Netherlands a net exporter of electricity in Q4 09 A decline in natural gas prices and France's diminished electricity production capacity helped the Netherlands to become a net exporter of electricity in the last three months of 2009. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and national electricity transmission system operator TenneT, the Netherlands exported 1.3 million kWh of electricity to Belgium, Germany and Norway in December against imports of 1.1 million kWh. The Netherlands was a net importer of electricity over 2009 as a whole and the shift in the last quarter of the year was due to the low price of electricity in the country compared with neighbouring countries. Electricity prices in the Netherlands fell towards the end of 2009 due to declining demand and because of a considerable decrease in gas prices. Dutch production capacity is predominantly gas-fired and the country was therefore able to increase exports to Germany, where capacity is more reliant on coal. Belgium also increased imports of electricity from the Netherlands because of a rise in electricity prices in France, where electricity demand has risen and production capacity has fallen due to industrial action. The problems in France also allowed Iberdrola to cement its position as the leading Spanish electricity exporter in 2009, when it sent more than 569 000 MWh across the Pyrenees. Iberdrola's exports rose by 6.5 per cent in 2009 compared with 2008 and allowed it to take advantage of periods of high wind and hydropower output. October 2009 saw the consumption of more than 1 billion m3 of natural gas for the production of electricity in the Netherlands, an unprecedented figure for natural gas usage over the course of a single month, said TenneT. Source: Utility Week © Faversham House Group Ltd 2010. News articles may be copied or forwarded
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