In Flanders, many more applications were submitted last year to receive a subsidy for a home battery than in the previous year. This is an increase of 75 percent. This premium program will end in a few months.
The Flemish Energy and Climate Agency reports that a total of 33,258 applications were submitted in 2022, while in 2021 it remained at about 19,000. The agency of the Flemish government does not report which part of the applications received in 2022 has actually been awarded.
At the beginning of December last year, the Flemish government officially decided that the premium for home batteries will be brought forward to disappear. All home batteries for which the inspection takes place after March 31 can no longer claim the subsidy. In 2022, this amounted to a maximum of 1725 euros or 40 percent of the invoice including VAT. Until the end of March 2023, this will be a maximum of 850 euros or 40 percent of the invoice.
Flanders and Germany are ahead of the Netherlands when it comes to purchasing home batteries. The Dutch government parties want to do something about this. They stated recently proposed phasing out the net metering scheme in slightly larger steps and thus freeing up money to stimulate the purchase of home and neighborhood batteries. It is currently unclear whether this plan will be implemented and whether the Dutch net metering scheme will actually disappear in the long term, and if so, at what rate.
The Flemish Energy and Climate Agency also writes that the number of solar panels increased significantly last year increased. There was an annual target of 450MW of additional capacity and according to Zuhal Demir, the Minister of Energy, at least 517MW of solar panels will have been installed by 2022, spread over 99,552 roofs. Compared to 2021, twice as many solar panels were installed in Flanders last year. According to the minister, the home batteries benefit from the success of the solar panels, because according to her, quite a few buyers immediately purchase a battery in addition to solar panels.
