The Dutch government has officially announced the termination of its residential solar net metering program by 2027. The Dutch Solar Energy Association welcomed this decision, acknowledging that the current program is no longer sustainable.
In a statement, the association pointed out that the existing net metering plan faces numerous challenges, including rising costs and congestion in low-voltage power grids. As households feed more electricity into the grid, these costs increase, and high generation levels can lead to grid overload. Consequently, the association urges the new cabinet to implement incentives that encourage self-consumption of solar power to maintain the economic viability of solar applications.
Additionally, the Dutch Solar Energy Association calls for the development of “incentives and standards” to promote residential energy storage solutions, such as battery energy storage systems (BESS) or boilers. Research by Dutch consultancy CE Delft and TNO indicates that if an average household utilizes 60% of its solar generation, the economic incentives for solar power would be nearly equivalent to those under the net metering scheme. Currently, however, households with solar installations average only about 30% self-consumption.
The association noted that Germany and California have successfully transitioned to self-consumption models. In Germany, nearly 75% of new residential solar capacity is installed alongside battery storage, thanks to subsidies that promote self-consumption. In California, while net billing rates that encourage residential storage have led to an increase in storage installations, overall new solar capacity has significantly declined.
