Netherlands

The latest edition of Solar Solutions, the largest solar trade show in the Netherlands, showed that the Dutch PV market is set to stabilize in terms of volumes, while preparing to integrate more heat pumps and storage. The solar sector is asking to move away from net metering to create a more resilient distributed-generation PV market.

The House of Representatives of the Netherlands has voted to end net metering. If the Dutch Senate approves the proposal, it could usher in a new era for rooftop PV, with storage becoming crucial for the country’s energy transition.

The Netherlands may have deployed 2 GW of new residential solar capacity in 2022, according to provisional figures from grid operators.

The Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) has provided accident statistics related to the installation of solar energy systems. It says there have been four casualties among solar installers over the past three years.

Solar project developers see fewer opportunities to build PV facilities in the northern Netherlands, as grid bottlenecks are becoming worse.

The Netherlands added 1.94 GW of new solar to reach 16.85 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of June 2022, which was beyond initial expectations.

New rules in the Netherlands will allow new entities known as “congestion service providers” as intermediaries between grid operators and power plant operators, in order to make optimal use of the network.

Solar has dominated the 2022 round of the SDE++ program for large-scale renewable energy projects in the Netherlands, accounting for around 90% of all pre-assigned capacity. About 2,269 MW of PV project proposals have been accepted.

According to state-run agency RVO, solar may reach 17.6 GW of installed capacity by year-end, thus becoming able to cover more than 12% of the country’s electricity demand.

Vattenfall and Greenchoice have agreed to adjust sustainability claims on their websites in response to a request from the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets. The companies reportedly used vague comparisons to support their claims.