The continued growth of wind and solar energy requires space and decisive action

Work is still underway on new projects for wind energy, solar energy, and energy storage, but development has stalled. This is evident from the NP RES Progress Report. This situation is both familiar and concerning, according to the industry organizations Dutch Association for Sustainable Energy, Energie-Nederland, Holland Solar, NedZero, and Energy Storage NL. Additional clean, local energy can helping entrepreneurs move forward that are reaching the limits of the power grid. “In addition, domestically produced orange-green energy makes us less dependent on other countries and helps us combat climate change,” says Olof van der Gaag, chairman of the NVDE.

“Projects shouldn’t be held up because local governments don’t want them in their neighborhoods. Regions actually need additional power if they don’t want social development to come to a standstill,” says Van der Gaag. The industry organizations agree with the picture painted by the NP RES and support the recommendations in the report.

Political support is crumbling

We are concerned to see that political and administrative support for renewable energy projects is waning. Furthermore, the commitments set forth in the Regional Energy Strategies (RES) seem to be becoming less certain. The fact that even municipalities are calling existing RES commitments into question or terminating them is a worrying development.

The agreement set forth in the 2019 Climate Agreement is clear: market players are responsible for ensuring sufficient project initiatives, innovation, and cost reductions; governments are responsible for providing sufficient sites where these projects can be implemented. Governments are increasingly failing to fulfill this shared responsibility. It is not inconceivable that this will eventually backfire, since the desired developments require electricity.

Set aside space for generation, storage, and infrastructure

In addition to sufficient space for renewable energy generation and energy infrastructure, energy storage is also becoming increasingly important. It is encouraging that several provinces are now developing policies in this area. We urge provinces that are still lagging behind to do the same as soon as possible. Without storage, opportunities for grid relief and further electrification will be missed.

The agreements on clean energy generation are in effect through 2030. Both the development of energy projects and the process of reaching new agreements are taking too long. The sector needs a clear outlook for the period after 2030.

The connection is also part of the implementation

Finally, the industry associations note that applications for grid connections and transmission capacity in congested areas are increasingly being put on hold. This unnecessarily hinders projects. The legal principle remains that a connection must be established, with congestion management being employed if necessary. On this point as well, swift implementation is essential to avoid further delaying the energy transition.