Dutch Economy Minister Proposes EUR 12 Billion to Back 2017 Renewable Energy Tenders

Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Henk Kamp, has issued a letter to the House of Representatives, informing it about the opening of the SDE+ subsidy scheme for renewable energy in 2017. Through tendering processes to be launched in spring and autumn of 2017, Minister Kamp plans to make EUR 12 billion available through SDE+.

SDE+ (Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie/Encouraging Sustainable Energy Production) is an operating grant, a Dutch equivalent of UK contracts for difference or CfDs.

Despite the ongoing technological development in exploiting renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, water, biomass and geothermal energy, in most cases these are more expensive than fossil sources, Minister Kamp said, and the SDE+ scheme helps accelerate renewable energy technology deployment and compensate for the price gap.

In the 2016 SDE+ budget, EUR 4 billion was available in spring and another EUR 5 billion has been launched in the latest tender round. Many applications offered a lower price than expected, according to the Minister’s letter, which is a good sign of technology becoming cheaper.

The rising budgets in 2017 SDE+ reflect the growing market for renewable energy in the Netherlands, Kamp said.

Power generation by offshore wind is not included in the regular SDE+ opening but will be rolled out through separate tenders. In 2017, the government will launch tenders for the first two lots of the Hollandse Kust (Zuid) zone.

To reach the target of 16% renewable energy by 2023, the government has drawn up a roadmap for achieving sustainable energy goals through offshore wind  with 4,500MW installed in in 2023. The first two lots of Hollandse Kust (Zuid) have a capacity of approximately 700MW. With the first Borssele tender in mind, there is a cost reduction of 40% was achieved over a year, which will affect all five tenders.

Minister Henk Kamp added that he will inform the House about the results of the latest Borssele tender round, once decision are made.

The Dutch Energy Agreement has been agreed by government, employers, trade unions and environmental organizations to achieve 14% renewable energy in 2020 and 16% in 2023, and the SDE+ scheme contributes significantly to achieving this objective, Kamp said.

Offshore WIND Staff