When Mark Rutte’s fourth term began in December last year, it was with a declaration of significantly more ambitious climate goals than previously. The EU’s 55% reduction by 2030 has been topped by the Dutch government with a goal of a 60% reduction in emissions, followed by further cuts of 10% every five years. To become less reliant on gas imports, two new nuclear power plants are needed, as are efforts to increase the adoption of CCS.

As a result of this, the authorities announced in March that the SDE++ subsidy scheme will be strengthened and that €13 billion will be available at this year’s funding announcement, a significant increase from previous years. The scheme is intended for projects developing renewable energy, hydrogen production, CCS and other industrial climate initiatives.  The Dutch government had previously set a ceiling on its CCS support of 7.2 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030. This has now increased to 8.7 million tonnes of CO2. Support from SDE++ is provided as a contract for differences and is awarded according to an auction principle.

This year’s auction will take place from June to September. The first auction is for projects asking for a maximum support of €65 per tonne of CO2. Last year, the CCS project Porthos received funding from this scheme.

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