Sweden increases 2018 solar budget, again

The Swedish Energy Agency, Energimyndigheten has allocated an additional SEK 525 million ($58.8 million) for its 2018 solar rebate scheme, thus bringing the total funds available to SEK 915 million.

Explaining the reason for the increase, Energimyndigheten’s managing director, Andreas Gustafsson, said, “There is still high pressure on applications, and many applicants may have to wait a long time for a grant. Now additional funds have been allocated until the end 2018, which will reduce the pressure and allow the county administrative authorities to decide on support as early as possible and reduce the frame time for applications.”

Starting from this year, the percentage of rebates covering the cost of buying and installing a PV system – granted to homeowners, businesses and public organizations willing to go solar – has been raised from 20% to 30%. The maximum possible support per PV project is SEK 1.2 million (around $130,000), for a maximum of SEK 37,000 plus VAT per kW installed.

Overall, the agency has devoted SEK 1.4 billion ($170 million) to the rebate program for the period 2009 to 2017. With this year’s budget, this sum will surpass SEK 2 billion, it said in its statement. In 2017, funds were also increased from an initial budget of 200 million SEK, to 400 million SEK.

At the end of last year, Sweden reached a cumulative installed solar power of around 231 MW. This year may become a record  for solar development in the country, however, not only as a result of the increased budget, but also due to several measures implemented by the Swedish government.

These include: the cancellation of the solar tax for commercial PV; and the removal of the building permit for rooftop PV. Meanwhile, several initiatives for the construction of MW-sized solar parks have been announced.