Flemish company forced to repay half a million euros for solar panel fraud

Flemish company forced to repay half a million euros for solar panel fraud
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A company from Sint-Niklaas in East Flanders has been ordered to repay more than half a million euros for fraud involving green energy certificates, according to the office of Flemish Energy Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA).

According to Demir, the company committed fraud in 2019 by lying about the dates they commissioned solar panel installations “in order to qualify for higher green certificates,” Nieuwsblad reports.

The company was attempting to maximise their subsidy by saying the solar panels were installed prior to the date of a planned decrease.

The fraud was discovered by distribution network manager Fluvius, which was explicitly commissioned by Demir to track down energy fraud.

They were able to use aerial photos, among other methods, to confirm that the solar panels were not installed when claimed.

Demir said that hunting down such fraud is critically important.

“Public money is involved,” Demir said. “Every euro that we can recover will go back to electricity consumers through a reduction in network tariffs.”


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