AMSTERDAM - The Netherlands is planning to build two new nuclear power plants by 2035, which should supply up to 13% of the country's total electricity production by then, the Dutch government said on Friday.

The power plants need to play an important role in the country's energy transition, as the Netherlands aims to make its power production carbon neutral by 2040.

The Netherlands derived 12% of its energy from sustainable sources last year.

The government expects to build the new plants close to the only one that's currently operational in the Netherlands, in Borssele in the southwest of the country.

The government had earlier earmarked 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) for building new nuclear power plants, out of a total fund of 35 billion euros dedicated to funding the energy transition in the coming decade.

Building of the two new nuclear plants is expected to start in 2028.

($1 = 0.9480 euros)

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)