Netherlands Awards 1.8 GW Solar in SDE++ 2024 Round

The Netherlands closed its SDE++ renewable energy subsidy round, awarding 629 projects representing a combined capacity of 2.084 GW. Of this, solar PV gets the lion’s share with 1.792 GW. 

For solar PV, the winning capacity includes 1.237 GW of ground-mounted PV, 448 MW of rooftop, and 107 MW of floating PV.  

In a letter informing the country’s Parliament about the preliminary results of the subsidy round, the country’s Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth, Sophie Hermans, shared that the total budget allocated to the winning projects amounted to €5.6 billion.  

For this round, the Dutch state-run agency Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) had set aside €11.5 billion in its total budget (see Dutch RVO’s SDE++ 2024 Subsidy Undersubscribed). 

According to the rules of the SDE++ 2024 round, a subsidy for wind and solar PV projects was made available only for grid supply, not for self-consumption.  

For the upcoming SDE++ 2025 funding round, the government has allocated €8 billion, which it believes will ensure competition and cost-effectiveness of the scheme. It is scheduled to be launched in October 2025. 

Additionally, Hermans took note of the fact that at times some solar and wind projects suffer from negative electricity prices. To fix this, the Dutch government plans to introduce Contracts for Difference (CfD) by 2027 for solar and onshore wind. It believes that this new system would better support these projects by offering more reliable financial backing compared to the current SDE++ scheme.

Meanwhile, the Dutch government may set a CO₂ limit for solar panels in SDE++ from 2026. It’s consulting the sector on using a 550 kg CO₂/kWp threshold based on environmental product declarations.