‘More than three quarters of large Dutch solar parks are in foreign hands’ | NOW

79 percent of the 33 largest solar parks in the Netherlands are now in foreign hands, according to it AD from own research. As a result, both subsidy money and profit disappear to the mostly German, Chinese, English and Scandinavian project developers and investment funds. These buy solar parks or purchase land for the construction of new parks.

The Dutch solar fields that are in foreign hands together receive a subsidy of almost 1.1 billion euros. Of this, 83 percent, about 889 million euros, disappears abroad.

“There is an explosive increase in solar parks, almost all of which are in the hands of foreign investors”, says Jan Rotmans, professor of transition science and sustainability at Erasmus University in the AD.

“Our subsidies are a cash cow for these investors. It gives them high returns, which also leak abroad. They earn a lot of money that is actually intended for the region.”

Landowners can receive 10,000 euros per hectare

The number of solar parks in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly. Dozens of parks have already been built in recent years and hundreds more will be added in the coming years. It concerns both small solar parks of a few hectares and large parks with a size of more than fifty football fields.

According to it AD project developers sometimes offer up to 10,000 euros per hectare to landowners, often farmers. As a result, farmers who lease 25 hectares of land quickly receive around 200,000 euros annually.

Many project developers would choose the Netherlands because of the billions of euros in subsidies provided by the Dutch government. “It is a fighting market with a lot of competition,” says Egbert Ludwig in the newspaper. Ludwig is director of Bronnen VanOns, a cooperative developer of wind and solar parks that wants half of the sustainable energy production to be in the hands of the local population.

‘Government spends lavishly with money’

The lucrative subsidies are the only reason for commercial developers to build solar parks, according to Ludwig. “The government scatters so lavishly with money that you have a wonderful business case with it, with returns of up to 15 percent.”

“The result is that dozens of project developers turn up, like bees in the honey pot. Even dubious parties who are not so good with the environment. They do not care about residents’ participation. Their only motivation is to earn as much money as possible.”

Of the 29 largest solar parks to be built in the coming years, the AD more than half (52 percent) is in foreign ownership. It concerns a maximum of 506 million euros in subsidy. This percentage is expected to increase, because investment funds usually only take over solar parks after they have been built.

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