Flanders provides incentives for residential storage

To encourage solar power self-consumption, Flanders in Belgium is granting rebates for the installation of residential battery systems. The program started on August 1 and will close at the end of next year, according to Engie-Electrabel, the largest electricity provider in Belgium.

The rebate amounts to €250/kWh of installed battery capacity up to a maximum €3,200 per connection point and with the proviso any grant does not exceed 35% of the cost of the system. For example, installing an 8 kWh battery would bring a rebate of around €2,000.

To qualify for the program, however, certain criteria must be met. For example, the buyer must have a digital smart meter and the battery must be made of “environmentally friendly” components, with lithium-ion and sodium-ion systems included under that definition.

Engie-Electrabel said the budget for the rebate program is around €5 million, which would correspond to a subsidized storage capacity of 20 MWh.

Flemish minister for energy Lydia Peeters wrote on her blog: “At the moment the price of a domestic battery is still very high compared to the yield. But thanks to the bonus, the acquisition of a battery becomes a reality more quickly.”