Double energy tax on storage
Currently, energy storage involves paying taxes both when electricity is charged and when it is discharged to the final customer. The double taxation is a major bottleneck for entrepreneurs. It stands in the way of the further development of this storage technology and thus constitutes an obstacle to achieving our climate goals when sustainable electricity can no longer be delivered to the grid. This in times when the development of energy storage is not only important for the energy transition, but also essential for our future earning power.
GroenLinks, together with VVD and D66, requested the government to find a solution to this problem back in 2018. Then State Secretary Menno Snel acknowledged the problem and announced measures so that a solution could take effect in 2021. With the delay that has now occurred, a legislative amendment is not expected until next year, leaving a solution to this problem at least four years away.
Grant
Minister Wiebes just recently underlined the potential of energy storage by investigating whether the development of energy storage can be subsidized in the SDE++. This creates the situation that subsidies for energy storage will soon flow back to the government via the tax authorities. Stefan Olsthoorn, branch manager of the FME energy storage platform Energy Storage NL, told news service Energeia: "Energy storage thus mainly means a financial surcharge for the tax authorities, while Dutch entrepreneurs are disadvantaged." In his questions, Van der Lee refers to the article in Energeia and asks Wiebes and Vijlbrief to explain why, on the one hand, a subsidy is being investigated and, on the other hand, a barrier is not being removed.
Energy Storage NL is calling on the cabinet to quickly resolve the problems surrounding the double energy tax on energy storage and still include it in the 2021 Tax Plan. Olsthoorn says: "The need for energy storage is great. In large parts of the Netherlands, the electricity grid is locked: the supply of sustainable energy here is greater than the available capacity. Storage is an important solution to this problem and obstacles must therefore be removed as soon as possible."
