SCE cooperative renewable electricity support
Production-based grants for Dutch energy cooperatives and owners’ associations generating electricity from new solar or onshore wind installations.
Această oportunitate este disponibilă momentan în limba engleză.
The Subsidieregeling Coöperatieve Energieopwekking (SCE) pays an operating subsidy per kilowatt-hour of eligible electricity. The base amount is the per-kWh level used to make the installation viable and is fixed from the application year for 15 years; the annual payment rate is that base amount minus the electricity-market correction, which cannot fall below the base energy price. If the correction reaches or exceeds the base amount, no subsidy is paid. Electricity must receive guarantees of origin from VertiCer. This is a production grant, rather than reimbursement of a fixed share of installation costs.
The 15-year period starts when the installation enters service. If unused eligible production remains, the subsidy period can be extended by up to one year; for solar installations with a large connection and an application from 2024 onwards, the maximum is two years. The extension ends when the unused production allowance is exhausted.
Solar categories cover 15–100 kWp on a small connection, 15 kWp to below 1 MWp on a large connection, and 1–6 MWp on a large connection. Onshore wind covers 15–100 kW on a small connection, 15 kW–1 MW on a large connection, and above 1 MW up to 6 MW on a large connection. Category-specific base amounts and production limits determine the award; consult RVO’s solar or wind tables when calculating project income.
A small connection is at most 3 × 80 A. From 2027 its electricity may be used on site, but self-consumed electricity receives no SCE subsidy. Solar installations on larger connections can receive support for self-consumption under different correction amounts; their additional contracted export capacity must not exceed 50% of panel peak capacity.
Eligibility
Apply as an energy cooperative or Vereniging van Eigenaars (VvE, an owners’ association) whose purposes include renewable generation. A cooperative may apply jointly with a BV (a Dutch private limited company) only if it owns 100% of that company and also governs it. The cooperative/joint applicants or VvE must own the installation; SCE also accepts financial lease: the lessor finances the installation, you repay the financed amount plus charges in instalments, and you bear risks such as damage and loss of value. Ownership or financial lease must cover the whole subsidy period; if the lease ends sooner, you must take ownership. Ordinary rental or operational lease does not qualify. Do not make irreversible commitments for the installation before submitting the application. An order with cancellation conditions is permitted.
The installation and participating members are tied to a Dutch postcode cluster: one postcode and its adjacent postcodes. A participating cooperative member must contribute financially to the installation under an agreement with the cooperative, which must supply that agreement to RVO on request. Participating members must live or operate in this area, have small electricity connections and number at least one per 5 kWp of solar or 5 kW of wind capacity. Count all SCE installations at the same site together. Only one person or business per address counts; all members must have access to the general meeting and equal voting rights. Financial participants outside the area do not count towards the minimum.
A VvE must install on, in or above its own building or associated land. At least 75% of its members must live or be established in the postcode cluster when the member list is supplied. For installations on its own ground, the VvE also needs at least one member per 5 kWp of solar or 5 kW of wind capacity when the list is supplied; include the capacity of its other SCE-supported installations at the same site. This capacity-linked minimum does not apply to installations on the VvE’s own roof or building. Separately, at least 75% of VvE members must have small connections from the time the list is supplied. A subordinate VvE needs the main VvE’s consent.
The installation must be new and cannot already have received a subsidy or other financial compensation from the Dutch central government. Hydropower is excluded. Replacing wind turbines is possible if capacity increases by at least 1 MW per replaced turbine, or the replaced turbines have been used at the site for at least 15 years at planned replacement, or were commissioned at least 13 years before application.
Submit only one application per site, category and round; do not split a solar field into smaller applications. A later round can support an additional installation with its own meter and allocation point. Ground-mounted solar of at least 1 MWp needs nature-inclusive permit conditions covering a layout and management plan, baseline measurements, monitoring and corrective measures for soil, water and biodiversity, and at least 25% open space between panel tables.
How to apply
- Statut
- închis
- Se deschide
- Se închide
- Condițiile sesiunii de finanțare
- Applications are processed in order of receipt; a lottery applies to applications received on the day the remaining budget is exceeded.
The 2026 window runs from 2 March at 09:00 to 1 October at 17:00, Netherlands time, with a total programme budget of €78 million. RVO processes applications in order of receipt and uses a lottery if requests received on one day exceed the remaining budget. The decision period is 13 weeks, extendable once by up to 13 weeks.
Apply through RVO’s online portal using eHerkenning level 2+ with RVO authorisation. An authorised intermediary can instead use DigiD and must retain a signed mandate. Prepare a feasibility study with investment costs, annual costs and income, financing and project return; the required permits must already be issued when applying, although their objection period need not have expired. If no permit is needed, supply confirmation from the issuing authority.
Include the site plan, postcode map and applicable articles of association, joint-application declaration and site rights. For a third-party site, normally provide a signed intention to establish a right of superficies (the right to own and operate the installation on someone else’s property), followed by the notarial deed within one year of the award decision. There are two alternatives: where the site is subject to leasehold, a signed rental or use agreement with the leaseholder suffices; where a cooperative installs on, in or above a VvE-owned building, a signed rental or use agreement with the VvE suffices. In these cases the agreement replaces the right-of-superficies requirement and accompanies the application.
Large connections need a grid-capacity indication issued within the month before application. Building-mounted solar below 1 MWp needs the model roof/façade suitability declaration; at least 1 MWp, or any roof-adaptation/lightweight-panel category, needs the model engineer’s declaration. Wind above 100 kW needs an expert yield report; at most 100 kW can use the supplier’s yield calculation.
After award, send the member list within one year of the award date and the applicable site-right deed within the same year. For wind and 2026 solar projects of at least 1 MWp, send the delivery/construction order within 18 months of the award. Commission by the deadline in the award, obtain the grid EAN code and register with VertiCer so RVO can arrange advances. Each installation needs its own allocation point: the grid metering point linked to its electricity-market party.