Net metering ends on 1 January 2027: what now for your solar panels
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The Dutch net metering scheme (salderingsregeling) ends on 1 January 2027. This affects SMEs with solar panels and a small-consumer connection: an electricity connection of no more than 3x80 amps. Power you feed back to the grid will then no longer be offset against the power you take from it.
The end of net metering only applies to small consumers
Net metering is a scheme for small consumers. According to RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, you are a small consumer if your connection is no larger than 3x80 amps. Businesses with a larger connection are not covered by the net metering scheme, so on this point nothing changes for them on 1 January 2027. If you are not sure how large your connection is, your grid operator can tell you.
Until 31 December 2026 you may offset the power you feed back over a year against the power you use. From 2027 you pay for every kWh you take from the grid, even if you feed back the same amount at another time. Your supplier cannot postpone that date. If your contract runs across the turn of the year, the supplier must split consumption and feed-in into the period up to 31 December 2026 and the period after it.
You receive compensation for the power you feed back
From 2027 your supplier pays you a feed-in compensation for the power you feed back. Until 2030 it must be at least 50% of the bare supply rate: the price of power excluding energy tax and VAT. Suppliers may also charge feed-in costs, but only for the costs they incur in processing the power fed back. The ACM, the Dutch regulator, supervises these charges. Power you generate and use directly remains tax-free.
Feed-in also happens at the moment when power is worth least on the wholesale market. From April to September 2026, power at 1 pm cost on average €22.23 per MWh, against €197.17 at 8 pm. If your compensation is linked to the market price, feeding in around midday therefore earns little.
Average day-ahead power price by hour of the day, April to September
Show the figures
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | €90.47 | €137.33 |
| 01:00 | €84.03 | €129.57 |
| 02:00 | €81.41 | €124.46 |
| 03:00 | €79.29 | €121.76 |
| 04:00 | €80.28 | €122.02 |
| 05:00 | €85.83 | €127.34 |
| 06:00 | €98.52 | €141.29 |
| 07:00 | €105.19 | €145.34 |
| 08:00 | €94.89 | €131.35 |
| 09:00 | €69.90 | €101.79 |
| 10:00 | €45.23 | €72.71 |
| 11:00 | €29.32 | €49.51 |
| 12:00 | €15.48 | €32.90 |
| 13:00 | €7.13 | €22.23 |
| 14:00 | €7.24 | €23.21 |
| 15:00 | €18.91 | €37.20 |
| 16:00 | €34.25 | €61.28 |
| 17:00 | €63.75 | €97.87 |
| 18:00 | €96.23 | €138.72 |
| 19:00 | €126.29 | €178.38 |
| 20:00 | €140.21 | €197.17 |
| 21:00 | €126.77 | €185.48 |
| 22:00 | €109.90 | €165.66 |
| 23:00 | €95.81 | €146.37 |
A worked example with assumptions
What the end of net metering costs you depends mainly on how much you feed back. The example below is based on a fictitious business and fixed assumptions; it is not a forecast. The business uses 30,000 kWh a year and generates 20,000 kWh. It uses 8,000 kWh of that directly and feeds back 12,000 kWh. We also assume a bare supply rate of €0.12 per kWh, feed-in compensation at the legal minimum of €0.06 per kWh and the expected energy tax rates for 2027. Feed-in costs, network costs, the energy tax reduction and VAT are left out.
Worked example: power costs with and without net metering
| With net metering | Without net metering (from 2027) | |
|---|---|---|
| Power from the grid | 22,000 kWh | 22,000 kWh |
| Fed back | 12,000 kWh | 12,000 kWh |
| Volume you pay for | 10,000 kWh | 22,000 kWh |
| Supply (€0.12 per kWh) | €1,200.00 | €2,640.00 |
| Energy tax (expected 2027) | €880.00 | €1,693.60 |
| Feed-in compensation (€0.06 per kWh) | €0.00 | −€720.00 |
| Total | €2,080.00 | €3,613.60 |
| Difference per year | - | €1,533.60 |
In this example, the end of net metering costs €1,533.60 a year. Every kWh the business uses itself instead of feeding it back saves €0.1278: €0.12 in supply costs plus €0.0678 in energy tax, minus the €0.06 compensation it no longer receives. With 3,000 kWh more self-consumption, that comes to €383.40 a year. The more you feed back, the bigger the difference; if you use almost everything yourself, you will notice little of the change.
What does this mean for you?
- Check whether your connection is no larger than 3x80 amps. Only then does the end of net metering apply to you.
- Look up in your contract how feed-in compensation and feed-in costs will be calculated from 1 January 2027.
- Map how much power you feed back and at which hours. That determines what the end of net metering will cost you.
- Shift consumption to the hours when your panels are producing. Solar power you use directly remains tax-free.
Sources: Dutch government (Rijksoverheid), net metering scheme (consulted 14 October 2026); Ondernemersplein, end of net metering from 2027 (consulted 14 October 2026); RVO, solar energy legislation (checked 26 June 2026); ACM ConsuWijzer, net metering and feed-in (consulted 14 October 2026); Rijksfinanciën, tax key table for the 2027 Tax Plan (15 September 2026); Energy-Charts (Fraunhofer ISE), data Bundesnetzagentur | SMARD.de, retrieved 14 October 2026.
Does this apply to your business?
Our energy specialists are happy to look at what this means for your connections, your contract and your purchasing situation. Without obligation.
