Netherlands allocates 50 MW of geothermal in large-scale renewables program
Drilling rig on site in the Netherlands (source: Daldrup & Söhne AG)
Alexander Richter
6 Sep 2017
The Netherlands have announced results of the first round of its SDE+ program that aims to encourage sustainable energy production. Under this now announced round 50 MW were allocated to geothermal energy, while the vast majority was allocated to solar PV and wind.
The Dutch Ministry of Economy has announced it has selected 4,386 solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a combined capacity of 2,353 MW in the first round of a program to encourage sustainable energy production, SDE+ (Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie).
The SDE+ essentially is an operating grant. The primary target groups for SDE+ are companies, institutions and non-profit organisations. The project must be realised in the Netherlands. The national government is excluded from participation. Private producers of renewable energy are not eligible for a SDE+ grant because the costs exceed the benefits. Other local or national incentive regulations sometimes apply.
There are two rounds of SDE+ applications in 2017. The SDE+ round of applications for spring 2017 is closed and has now been announced. The autumn round is open from 3 until 26 October 2017 5pm.
SDE+ contribution
The cost price for the production of renewable energy is set in the base sum for the technology. The energy price is established in the correction sum. The SDE+ contribution = base – correction sum. This makes the level of the SDE+ contribution dependent on energy-price developments. When the price of energy is high, you receive less SDE+ and more from your energy consumer. When the price of energy is lower, you get more SDE+ and less from the energy consumer. The correction amount is the average price of energy per category during the year of production. The base price of energy is the lower limit for the correction amount. The maximum grant is reached when the correction amount is equal to the base price of energy. The final payments are calculated per year on the amount of energy produced and the actual price of energy.
Overall, the RVO has allocated 3,212 MW of renewable energy power generation capacity through the bidding round, the remainder of which is represented by large-scale wind projects totalling 643 MW, biomass projects with a combined capacity of 110 MW, and geothermal projects equaling 50 MW. The remaining 52 MW are represented by other minor renewable energy technologies.
Source: PV Magazine
