Flemish Energy Minister Melissa Depraetere wants to cut €179 million from electricity bills by reducing subsidies for large solar parks more quickly when power prices turn negative.
Depraetere said the current system is unfair because households with solar panels can have to pay to feed electricity into the grid when there is an oversupply, while large solar parks and combined heat and power plants continue to receive certificates and subsidies.
Those certificates are financed through energy bills, meaning households and businesses ultimately pay the cost.
“To explain that is difficult. That is why we are making the system fairer,” Depraetere said.
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Under the plan, certificate support would be suspended during periods of negative electricity prices. The aim is to encourage operators of large solar parks to switch off production sooner or store electricity instead, reducing oversupply on the grid.
That should also lower the frequency and scale of negative prices and reduce the risk that households with solar panels are charged for injecting power into the grid.
At present, certificate support only stops after six hours of negative electricity prices. Under the new rules, it would end after just 15 minutes.
According to the minister, this means Flanders would stop subsidising electricity more quickly at times when there is no demand for it, helping to lower energy costs for households and businesses.
The measure would remove a total of €179 million in costs from electricity bills, according to Depraetere’s cabinet.
It would come on top of the planned energy tax shift, which is expected to cut the average annual electricity bill for a Flemish household by €80 from 2028.
For households with a heat pump, that annual saving could rise to €150.
