74 J. BACKHAUS
smart meter to every Dutch household by 2020 and achieving at least
80% coverage. By the end of 2017, a total coverage of 16% had been
achieved (author’s calculation based on: CBS 2018; RVo 2018: 19).
Agreements have been made with municipalities and housing corporations that all rental apartments owned by housing corporations need
to have an energy label of B or better, and all privately owned apartments need to have an energy label of C or better by 2020. Subsidies
are available for apartment owners who either offer social housing or
who plan rather ambitious energy efficiency renovations. An agreement
with the construction, installation and energy sector states that every
year, 300,000 existing flats are to be made energy efficient. For example, the block-for-block (blok voor blok) programme, running since
2012, comprises 14 projects targeting at least 33,500 flats that are, ideally, renovated cost efficiently, i.e. on block-level. In addition, the five
biggest cities of the Netherlands together with the 32 middle to largesized towns have developed a Smart City Strategy and six Dutch cities
and industry partners are experimenting with ‘smart city’ concepts and
technologies to achieve reductions in Co 2 emissions.
In recent times, interest has risen in supporting communities that
are keen to take collective action by studying their business case (e.g.
RVo) or by looking into the possibilities of an energy service company (ESCo) model for energy cooperatives (e.g. nmf Limburg). The
Dutch cooperative sector is undergoing remarkable developments, currently fuelling 85,000 (1%) of Dutch households. Although there are
no longer subsides for solar PV, energy cooperatives can profit from tax
exemption schemes. In 2017, 100 new solar cooperatives have been
established, leading to an increase of 53% compared to 2016 and a total
solar capacity of 37 MW. Sixty-three of the new cooperatives benefit
from the ‘Postcode rose regulation’ (Postcoderoosregeling), a national
tax exemption scheme. This development will likely continue, with
more than 200 projects planned for 2018. Although cooperative wind
energy remained stable at 118 MW in 2017, a near doubling of capacity is expected for the period of 2018–2019 due to planned projects
that emerged from close collaboration between several cooperatives,
governments and commercial companies. onshore wind energy is also
increasingly cooperative-based, partly due to municipal requirements
(HIER local energy monitor).
smart meter to every Dutch household by 2020 and achieving at least
80% coverage. By the end of 2017, a total coverage of 16% had been
achieved (author’s calculation based on: CBS 2018; RVo 2018: 19).
Agreements have been made with municipalities and housing corporations that all rental apartments owned by housing corporations need
to have an energy label of B or better, and all privately owned apartments need to have an energy label of C or better by 2020. Subsidies
are available for apartment owners who either offer social housing or
who plan rather ambitious energy efficiency renovations. An agreement
with the construction, installation and energy sector states that every
year, 300,000 existing flats are to be made energy efficient. For example, the block-for-block (blok voor blok) programme, running since
2012, comprises 14 projects targeting at least 33,500 flats that are, ideally, renovated cost efficiently, i.e. on block-level. In addition, the five
biggest cities of the Netherlands together with the 32 middle to largesized towns have developed a Smart City Strategy and six Dutch cities
and industry partners are experimenting with ‘smart city’ concepts and
technologies to achieve reductions in Co 2 emissions.
In recent times, interest has risen in supporting communities that
are keen to take collective action by studying their business case (e.g.
RVo) or by looking into the possibilities of an energy service company (ESCo) model for energy cooperatives (e.g. nmf Limburg). The
Dutch cooperative sector is undergoing remarkable developments, currently fuelling 85,000 (1%) of Dutch households. Although there are
no longer subsides for solar PV, energy cooperatives can profit from tax
exemption schemes. In 2017, 100 new solar cooperatives have been
established, leading to an increase of 53% compared to 2016 and a total
solar capacity of 37 MW. Sixty-three of the new cooperatives benefit
from the ‘Postcode rose regulation’ (Postcoderoosregeling), a national
tax exemption scheme. This development will likely continue, with
more than 200 projects planned for 2018. Although cooperative wind
energy remained stable at 118 MW in 2017, a near doubling of capacity is expected for the period of 2018–2019 due to planned projects
that emerged from close collaboration between several cooperatives,
governments and commercial companies. onshore wind energy is also
increasingly cooperative-based, partly due to municipal requirements
(HIER local energy monitor).