'FiT for Free'
has nothing to do with feed-in tariffs or solar energy, but is a fitness brand in
the Netherlands.
Still, solar PV companies in Holland
expect to remain in better shape when 'freed from FiT'.
Fed up with
the government
Dutch solar
entrepreneurs are completely fed up with the inconsistent, unsustainable,
discontinuous incentives their government called 'an optimized FiT'.
Unanimously, they begged the government and politicians this year NOT to
continue this incentive, nor to introduce any new subsidy. The current net
metering regulation is sufficient to make the Netherlands, blessed with high
energy prices, one of the world's first grid parity markets. This year has already
seen numerous projects and new business models started and implemented. And
guess what happened... the market started growing – without either incentives
or a FiT. And so did the number of new
companies. It felt like the market had been freed. No government ruling or
control.
Just
entrepreneurs and customers.
Tired of
FiT
Not only in
NL is the solar industry tired of FiTs and the continuous changes enforced by
governments and politicians running after the rapidly changing dynamics of the global
PV industry. It is hard fully understand what is happening. Once they think they
have figured out a nice FiT regime, prices collapse further and we are even
seeing local companies break down. Instead of making them happy, these
decreasing module prices scare them off. Budgets are running out of control due
to the tsunamis of PV applications. The paradox is that the more the
governments decrease a FiT, the faster people invest in a solar system. It is
customer psychology. In the end, you do not want to be the loser who missed all
the good tariffs in the past, being left with the 'leftovers' or even no FiT.
Pain in the
roof
For all
other stakeholders in the market, such as investors, banks, installers and EPCs,
these ever-changing regulations are a 'pain in the roof'. Working with
unforeseeable peaks in demand is indeed a business challenge in terms of
personnel, cash flow management and purchasing capacity. The frustration could
be felt at the latest Global Demand Conference in Munich. All major EU markets – Italy, Germany,
France, Belgium and the UK – are now being confronted with
new (unexpected) FiT cutbacks. It is the same everywhere, with governments
prepared to expect the unexpected. You could almost feel the fatigue among the
speakers and participants in Munich.
“We are done with this. We need a
sustainable model where at least you know what will happen six months from now.
Otherwise no business or project planning will be feasible…”
Always
expect the unexpected
It feels
like the Dutch weather forecast: promised a sunny season and suddenly it starts
raining. This feels like a cold shower. For immediately in your family the
discussion starts to steer towards a really secure, sunny place, even at extra
cost... For the solar entrepreneurs, the situation is almost the same: escape
from the uncertain weather. Let's move
to where the sun shines permanently. And that is exactly what more companies
will be doing – exploring business opportunities in sunny countries such as India, China,
Chile, Mexico, South
Africa and Brazil. Markets where at least one
thing is sure: plenty of sunshine!
And what
did the new temporary coalition in the Netherlands do in its wisdom and
eagerness to show of its greenness? Introduce a new subsidy, effective 2 July!
It is time to
take a holiday and get in shape for the second half of the year...
