The Energy List for sustainable energy investments with tax benefits in 2022 has been published. New developments in the field of hydrogen are an important change on the Energy List 2022. For this purpose, new business assets have been added that are eligible for energy investment deduction.
Every year the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) updates the Energy List. RVO draws this up in cooperation with entrepreneurs, experts and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK). The Energy List contains innovative and sustainable energy investments that allow entrepreneurs to make tax-efficient investments through the Energy Investment Allowance scheme (EIA). In 2022 a budget of € 149 million is available for this scheme. Techniques have been added, removed and the requirements for a number of techniques have been tightened before 2022.
Hydrogen plays an important role in the transition to a climate-neutral society. To support these developments, three new operating assets have been included in the scheme:
- production of hydrogen by means of electrolysis;
- stationary storage of hydrogen;
- connection to private hydrogen networks.
For entrepreneurs, this means that investments they make in these assets provide tax benefits, by making use of the energy investment deduction. In addition, the code for conversion of electrical energy to hydrogen (Power to gas) has been amended.
In addition to the changes for hydrogen, the lifetime requirement for LED lighting has also been changed. As of 2022, LED lighting must meet the lifetime requirement L90 and a minimum efficiency of 125 lumens per watt. With this change, only lighting that is energy efficient and has a long lifetime will be promoted.
We also added collective heating and cooling of homes and other buildings using a well and a heat pump. This description is particularly aimed at replacing gas-fired heating in existing buildings. In doing so, we contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in the Netherlands.
With the EIA scheme entrepreneurs reduce their taxable profit. They may deduct 45.5% of the cost of the energy investment from the taxable profit. Annually RVO handles about 20,000 applications in energy-saving business assets. This results, among other things, in an energy saving of 522 million m3 in natural gas. In this way the EIA contributes to the objectives of the Climate Agreement.