The Dutch government is planning to introduce a feed-in-tariff that will require large electricity producers to pay towards the cost of the electricity grid.
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said the tariff scheme would not be introduced until at least January 2032, to allow the market to adapt. It will require electricity producers, such as large solar, wind and other power plants, to pay towards grid upgrade and expansion costs, which the ACM said would incentivise producers to use the grid more “efficiently” and lead to fewer necessary upgrades by the grid operator.
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Dutch energy industry groups have criticised the proposals. Energie‑Nederland said it was “seriously concerned” by the plans, and questioned the ACM’s notion that the scheme would incentivise electricity producers to use the grid more efficiently.
“A feed-in tariff actually dampens the incentive for consumers to use the grid efficiently,” the group said in a translated statement. “After all, in the electricity system, supply follows demand: producers generate electricity to meet the needs of consumers. By shifting the focus to producers, important opportunities on the demand side to use the grid more efficiently remain largely untapped.”
Energie‑Nederland also warned that the uncertainty over the level of the tariff has been noted by investors and power producers, leading to a “hugely negative impact on the business cases of projects”.
The Dutch solar industry body, Holland Solar, expressed similar concerns, warning that “continued uncertainty” over the tariff proposals is “slowing the energy transition”.
Beyond the impact on project financing and power demand, Energie-Nederland said that the timing of introducing increased uncertainty and cost for renewable energy projects was poor, as the war in the Middle East has exposed the vulnerabilities of an energy system structurally reliant on fossil fuels. “The current geopolitical situation calls for accelerated investment in sustainable energy,” the group said. “A feed-in tariff achieves exactly the opposite.”
Across Europe, the buildout of renewable energy generation, particularly solar capacity, has come to be hamstrung by underdeveloped and costly electricity grids. In an interview for PV Tech Premium last month, Jan-Philip Kock of German IPP Encavis told us that the solar industry in Europe had been “a victim of its own success” in building massive generation capacity since 2022, and that now the industry must reassess its relationship with the grid, flexibility and energy demand, all of which are becoming more complex.
