The coalition government of the Netherlands has announced the country will abolish net metering in 2027, taking a reverse stance over the previous decision to continue the scheme. It has also announced that by 2027, the country's solar and wind energy projects will be awarded contracts for difference (CfD) instead of the current SDE++ scheme.
The Energy Ministry's previous recommendation of phasing out the net metering scheme was rejected by the Dutch Senate in March 2024. The latter's contention was that the scheme will be helpful to make rental homes more sustainable in the lower-income category (see Netherlands To Stay Put With Solar Net Metering).
While the local solar association Holland Solar agreed with the Energy Ministry's stance to phase out the netting arrangement back then, it sees the sudden decision to abolish the net metering scheme at one go as an 'unpleasant surprise' for the solar sector and consumers.
It says more than 100,000 households have invested in solar panels since March 2024, but now they are uncertain about the return on their investment.
Meanwhile, the government has also announced the adoption of a CfD scheme for solar power and wind energy projects in the budget. It will entail a fixed price of clean energy generation under a contract signed between the project developer and the government.
Till now, the Netherlands has been operating its Sustainable Energy Production and Climate Transition Incentive Scheme nicknamed SDE++. This operating subsidy scheme provides a subsidy to a renewable energy project or one using carbon-reducing technologies, during its operating period.
According to the association, "We previously saw that within the SDE++ there was a lot of attention to stimulating the supply side of sustainable energy. With the arrival of CFDs, there is also an opportunity to better match supply and demand and to stimulate them financially more effectively."
The SDE++ scheme is currently closed as per the website of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). For the 2024 application round, the scheme will have 5 phases for which the agency plans to publish details soon.