Grant for research into energy hubs

Under the new Energy Hubs Research (EHUB) grant scheme, 9.6 million euros is being made available for research or evaluations relating to the establishment or expansion of an energy hub. Applications may be submitted over a period of seven months.

The EHUB scheme forms part of the Energy Hubs Incentive Programme, for which a total of 166 million euros has been set aside. The majority of this is earmarked for process support for initiatives via the provinces, and according to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), the amount will be distributed evenly across the years 2024–2030.

According to a spokesperson for the RVO, around 450 energy hub initiatives are currently under consideration. It is expected that this grant scheme will be made available more frequently in the future.

Energy hubs offer businesses the opportunity to continue to grow or become more sustainable whilst they await a connection with a higher capacity, according to the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth in the Government Gazette announcing the new grant. Most energy hubs are being set up in business parks where new businesses are unable to establish themselves or existing businesses are unable to expand due to the electricity grid being overloaded.

The EHUB grant is awarded for an in-depth study into the establishment or expansion of an energy hub, or for an exploratory assessment. Such an assessment provides insight into current and future demand for electricity. Possible solutions identified by the assessment include energy generation or storage, demand response, or entering into a group transmission agreement (GTA) whereby companies share transmission capacity.

GTO as an important tool

From 2027, network operators will be obliged to offer a GTO, which Theo Scholte, spokesperson for Netbeheer Nederland, describes as an important tool for setting up energy hubs. At present, network operators are adopting an approach whereby “experience is gained and scaled up step by step”, according to Scholte.

According to him, energy hubs cannot provide a short-term solution to grid congestion, but they are “an important building block for the Dutch energy infrastructure on the road to 2050”.

Tests and scans

For research into the development of an energy hub, companies can receive a grant of up to 42,000 euros, which can cover up to 70 per cent of the research costs. For research into expansion, the grant is capped at 32,000 euros and covers up to 40 per cent of the costs.

The grant a company receives for an energy audit depends on the number of participating companies. Indicative amounts range from 5,000 euros per audit for five or fewer participating companies to 8,500 euros for six or more companies. According to energy expert Marien Boonman, this is generally sufficient and it is fairly straightforward to carry out an energy audit.

Boonman says: “Hub studies often provide participants with valuable insights. Even if no energy hub is ultimately established, the parties involved learn about various alternative solutions during this process.”