State Aid Corner: New Dutch Funding Scheme for District Heating

A new State aid scheme entered into operation on 1st June to support deploying efficient heating networks substituting direct natural-gas heating.

A total budget of €150 million has been allocated for this subsidy program for this year. It is likely (yet still not decided) that the funding will be increased for subsequent years. Applications can be submitted until December 16, 2023.

The subsidy scheme aims at accelerating investment in heating networks, which are infrastructure that will contribute to the Dutch government's climate goals to reduce CO2 emissions by 49% by 2030. It is directed at future investment and accelerating the deployment of projects already decided.

Applications are processed in the order they are received, with a review period of 8 weeks, which can be extended by an additional 8 weeks if necessary.

The main eligibility requirement under the WIS scheme is focusing on connections of small consumers (less than 100kW) and block heating.

Subsidies for sustainable heat production are already available under the SDE++ scheme.

More information is available here. Contact Frans de Heij | Energie-Nederland [email protected] for information on the Netherlands. Contact Eloi Piel at [email protected] for questions on State aid and market intelligence.