The end of the "free power bank"
Since 2004, the Netherlands has operated a net metering policy that allowed households to offset electricity fed into the grid 1:1 against electricity consumed, effectively treating the grid as a free power bank with almost no handling fees. On 1 January 2027 that arrangement ends — and the Dutch residential storage market is expected to respond sharply.
Dutch New Energy Research forecasts that new installed residential storage capacity in the Netherlands will rise from 0.86 GWh in 2025 to 4.5 GWh in 2027, a 5.2-fold increase in just two years. At an average residential battery price of around €470/kWh in 2025, that 4.5 GWh corresponds to a hardware market of approximately €2.1 billion.
Economics shift toward self-consumption
The source reports that from 2027 Dutch law guarantees a return of just over 40 euro cents for each kilowatt-hour fed into the grid during the day, against around €1.9 for buying a kilowatt-hour at night — and after power company fees, electricity exported by many households is close to given away. Since the end of 2023, Dutch power companies have also charged feed-in fees to PV users: the more electricity a household sends to the grid, the more it pays.
The Netherlands already has around 3 million households with rooftop solar, a base installed on the assumption of free banking. Negative prices underline the imbalance: in June 2025, Dutch wholesale electricity prices fell below zero for 127 hours, meaning generators had to pay others to take their electricity.
A market Chinese suppliers only half-own
The Dutch residential storage market ranks third in Europe, behind Germany and Italy. Chinese manufacturers have captured roughly half of it — a notable limit given their dominance elsewhere. The report names Votai and Sungrow among the best-selling residential storage brands, and notes that Sungrow launched its all-in-one residential system PowerHarbor in Europe on 23 September, choosing the Netherlands as its first stop.
Who earns the steady money is not always the manufacturer: Dutch power companies decide when a home battery charges and discharges, and who buys the excess electricity at a high price.
The value sits with the scheduler
Dutch company Frank Energie does not manufacture batteries, yet remotely manages more than 14,000 household batteries made by other manufacturers on the cloud every day. Those holding scheduling rights earn steady toll fees over time. Hardware vendors capture the installation margin; aggregators capture the recurring one — a distinction that matters as 4.5 GWh of annual capacity arrives.
Source: 36Kr Europe
This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.