Netherlands allocates 3.53 GW of PV

Large-scale solar continues to prevail in the SDE++ (Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie) program for large-scale renewable energy projects, despite growing congestion issues on the Dutch grid.

SDE++ continues to be the main driver for planned and contracted PV capacity in the country. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy said this week that it selected 3,426 PV projects with a combined capacity of 3,535 MW in the second round of its 2020 program. About 1,803 MW of the total will be deployed in 1,120 rooftop PV projects, while ground-mounted and floating PV plants will account for another 1,732 MW of capacity.

The state-run RijkSdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) agency, which manages the subsidy program, has allocated 4,406 MW of renewable energy capacity through the bidding round. The remainder was represented by a 302 MW carbon capture project, 310 MW of electric water heaters, 107 MW of large-scale wind capacity, and 39 MW of biomass projects.

The government devoted a budget of €4.46 billion to the procurement round, with about €.197 billion going to PV technology. Most of the funds – €2.12 billion – went to a CO2 capture project that an international consortium plans to build at the Port of Rotterdam.

In the previous round of the SDE++ program, the Dutch authorities selected 6,882 PV projects with a combined capacity of 3,340 MW.

The Netherlands could reach between 38 GW and 125 GW of total installed solar capacity by 2050, according to a recent report by Netbeheer Nederland. By the end of December, the country’s cumulative installed solar capacity hit 10 GW. New PV capacity for 2020 was around 2.93 GW.

By comparison, newly deployed PV systems hit 2.57 GW in 2019, 1.69 GW in 2018, and 853 MW in 2017. Of the new capacity installed last year, around 1.09 GW came in the form of residential installations – up from 873 MW a year earlier. The remaining 1.8 GW came from the commercial and industrial and large-scale market segments.