Netherlands - World Nuclear Outlook Report

Projection of future nuclear capacity in the Netherlands in 2050

The Dutch government aims to meet climate targets by extending the operating lifetime of its existing nuclear power reactor and adding four new reactors by 2040.¹³² The single PWR at Borssele will have reached 60 years of operation in 2033.

New capacity

Large-scale reactors

In 2022 the government identified Borssele as the preferred location for constructing two new reactors of between 1000

MWe and 1650 MWe each; the units were expected to be operational by 2035, and would generate about 9-13% of the Netherlands’ electricity requirements.¹³³ Other potential locations were Tweede Maasvlakte, near Rotterdam and

Terneuzen in Zeeland. A fourth site, Eemshaven in Groningen was excluded due to local opposition. In March 2024, the government announced plans for the addition of two more units by 2050, with the site and plan yet to be announced for the third and fourth new units.¹³⁴

In March 2025 Eemshaven was added back to the list of sites formally under consideration, with an environmental impact assessment to be carried out for all four sites. However, this delayed the site selection process from being completed by mid-2025, so the start-up of the first two reactors by 2035 is no longer realistic. Around the same time, KHNP withdrew from the technology selection process, leaving Westinghouse and EDF engaged with the Netherlands government.¹³⁵

Small-scale reactors

In August 2022 Rolls-Royce SMR signed an exclusive agreement with Dutch nuclear energy development company ULC-Energy to collaborate on the deployment of Rolls-Royce SMR units in the Netherlands.¹³⁶ This was followed by a MoU with Rolls-Royce minority shareholder Constellation in September 2022.¹³⁷

A study by NRG-Pallas has identified four regions in the Dutch province of Gelderland as suitable for hosting a small modular reactor. The province aims to designate two locations for an SMR in 2027.¹³⁸