Energy communities, energy cooperatives, energy clusters

• Electricity Act 1998
• Regulation on Subsidy Scheme for Cooperative Energy Generation
• Decree on opening the Cooperative Energy Generation Subsidy Scheme 2021

The Dutch regulation on energy associations and cooperatives specifies that cooperatives and associations can only operate on the electricity sector and must be renewable energy based.
Article 7 (a) of the Electricity Act 1998 offers additional possibilities for community energy projects. It opens up the possibility for developments in transport, production, grid ownership through derogation as well as decentralized generated sustainable electricity.
Energy cooperatives and associations of owners generating electricity from solar energy, wind energy or hydropower can benefit from a premium tariff - Cooperative Energy Generation Subsidy Scheme. A premium tariff is a financial incentive paid per produced kWh on top of the electricity price. The scheme is open since 1 April 2021 until 1 December 2021. The scheme will be active until 1 April 2026 and there will be a new opening round every year.

Energy cooperative and association of owners can benefit from the premium tariff. Following requirements have to be met:
Minimum number of members:
• one participating member per 5 kWp of power of PV installation;
• one participating member per 2 kW of power of wind energy installation;
• one participating member per 1 kW of power of hydropower installation.

Wind power installation with a capacity between 15 kW and 1000 kW
PV installation with a peak capacity between 15 kWp and 500 kWp
Hydro-power plants with a capacity between 15 kW and 150 kW
The latest date of commissioning for Solar PV is 1.5 years after the date of the decision to grant subsidy. A realization period of 3 years applies to the Wind and Hydropower categories.
The production installation is owned or leased by the beneficiary.
The energy produced must be provided with certificates (guarantees of origin GVO) by CertiQ in order to be eligible for subsidy.

The members (individuals or companies) and the installation must be resident or established within one postcode or in one of the adjacent postcode areas, according to the postcode map of the Netherlands.

The amount of premium tariff per kWh is the difference between the base amount (decided annually) and the market price for energy. The base amount is the final amount of revenue that an electricity producer receives per generated kWh (electricity market price + financial incentive).
The budget for the support scheme in 2021 is 92 million euros.

• Energy communities, energy cooperatives, energy clusters   : Relevant