News item | 4/17/2023 | 13:21
The cabinet wants to connect more households to heating networks so that existing buildings can switch off natural gas. That is why it makes a subsidy available to heating companies to continue investing in new heating networks. The Heat Networks Investment Subsidy (WIS) can be applied for from 1 June and reimburses the part of the investment that does not pay for itself (the ‘unprofitable top’).
The subsidy encourages heat companies to invest more quickly in the construction of those heat networks and is intended for companies that can start quickly with the construction of a heat network, and are therefore already well advanced with their plans. An important condition is that it concerns heat networks for small-scale consumer connections (households and businesses with similar consumption), smaller than 100 kW, and block heating connections in existing buildings.
Minister Rob Jetten: “In the Netherlands, 500,000 new connections of existing homes to a heating network must be realized by 2030. This is in addition to the 500,000 households that already have access to a heating network. This subsidy is part of a broader approach to get the Netherlands connected to heating networks as much as possible. In the meantime, hard work is also being done on the bill for the Collective Heat Act, which I want to have completed before the end of the year.”
The maximum grant amount is € 20,000,000 for a project. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) implements this scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Subsidy applications are substantively assessed by RVO on the basis of the project plan. The duration of the project is a maximum of 7 years. The physical construction of the heat network must be started within 3 years after the subsidy has been granted. Entrepreneurs can apply for the subsidy from June 1, 09:00 until December 16, 2023, 17:00.