Electric drivers lose payouts for charging with own solar power

Electric drivers who charge their cars with power from their own solar panels can no longer earn money from ERE certificates. The Dutch Emissions Authority (NEa) announced a few days ago that electricity people generate themselves no longer counts. Certificates are now awarded only for green electricity drawn from the grid.

Drivers who charge from their own panels run their cars on almost free energy. Until now they could also collect payments on top, from certificates created a few years ago to encourage greener road traffic. Part of the earnings they expected will now fall away.

The NEa's reason is that no guarantee of origin can be issued for private solar power. Large green producers can provide such a certificate as proof that their electricity is green. Private individuals cannot.

The payments come from the fuel market. Fuel suppliers must make part of their fuel greener, and they do so by paying electric drivers a fee for green power used to charge their cars.

What this means for you

• Net metering (salderen) means your supplier offsets the electricity you use against the electricity you feed back, and the government scheme (salderingsregeling) ends on 1 January 2027.
• After that date you pay energy tax and VAT on all electricity you take from your supplier, but not on electricity you generate and use directly.
• Until 1 January 2030 the feed-in payment (terugleververgoeding) is at least 50% of the electricity price without energy tax and VAT, and feed-in costs (terugleverkosten) still apply and can be higher than that payment.
• With a fixed-rate contract the supplier may not change your feed-in payment. With a variable-rate contract it can change it, for example every 3 months, if the contract says so and you get at least 1 month's notice.

Source: ACM ConsuWijzer: salderen en terugleveren, read 2 November 2026