"I hope it is an opportunity or that the challenge is manageable," Henny van Gurp set the tone on behalf of Glastuinbouw Nederland and Kas als Energiebron on Tuesday afternoon. Sitting in front of him are nearly 30 soft fruit growers. They are visiting Van der Avoird Trayplant to be informed about the energy supply of the future. Is this an opportunity or a challenge?
Soon it's raining figures. Hard figures. Bob Fennis of BlueTerra calculates the energy situation of several strawberry farms. Is investing in an air-water heat pump an option for these types of farms?
In the room are growers with various types of farms. Where one has 'only' 6,000 square meters of glass, the largest has 24 hectares of greenhouse spread over five locations. One grower has a boiler, the other (also) CHP.
Energy costs rise sharply
Glastuinbouw Nederland recently reminded growers of the imminent threat of higher taxes on energy. Not everyone seems to be aware of the seriousness of the situation yet. The costs are going to rise considerably. In a calculation tool prepared by Glastuinbouw Nederland and AgroEnergy, growers can calculate this for their own situation.*
Good maths gives growers insights. But it can also make it painfully clear that something really needs to be done. Not everyone has a future, is one of the stark observations made during the afternoon. Especially for smaller, solitary farms, the impact of the new tax measures is huge.
Especially in the south of the Netherlands, there are many 'smaller' soft fruit farming farms. Here, no large-scale heat networks to hitch a ride, or room for much-needed scaling up, because nitrogen rules, for example, prevent this.
Practical calculations
Henny notices in his conversations with growers that sometimes growers simply don't know where to start. With a meeting like Tuesday's, Glastuinbouw Nederland and Kas als Energiebron want to help growers go into more depth with practical calculations.
For one grower, that might mean examining what investments are needed to keep the farm 'saleable' because there is no successor. For other growers who know they want to continue by themselves, with or without successors in place, the calculation can help them make investment decisions.
Uncertainty due to government policy
On Tuesday afternoon, the maths for air-water heat pumps revealed that in many cases, the payback period hoped for does not materialize. More than ten years, far from all growers want to look ahead. But even if the payback period is lower, with or without SDE++ subsidy, doubts remain. Trust in the government is low. It is also evident from what growers say between the calculations. "We're just getting screwed," he said. What's next for the session? "A sign in the garden."
Despite the sometimes cynical attitude, growers are making the best of it on Tuesday afternoon. Serious, critical questions are asked. Growers also have the amounts in the calculation model adjusted where necessary. When 13 euro cents per kilowatt-hour appears on the screen, one grower exclaims, laughing. "Then you can start delivering." The amount is scaled up to 20 euro cents for a practical calculation. 23 euro cents for a cubic meter of gas also evokes a reaction. One grower notes delicately that a cubic meter currently costs 40 euro cents per cubic meter.
CO2 costs
BlueTerra's consultant repeatedly warns that he works with a calculation model that does not include all factors. Otherwise, the already complicated calculation becomes even more complicated and confusing. The cost of CO2 is missing, for example. "Count on 25,000 euros a year, on top of that," notes one grower. In the model calculation on the screen, the payback period for a flexible situation with a boiler and air-water heat pump shoots up years in that case.
While doing the calculations, the impact of the additional gas tax that takes effect from 1 January 2025 becomes even more apparent. "Haven't many growers already dropped out at a price of more than 70 euro cents per cubic meter of gas in the first place?" one grower rightly asks. A heat pump or not, some gas consumption will remain necessary for a while, even if only as a backup supply.
SDE++ subsidy
Even the grower whose calculations for the heat pump are disappointing learns new things from the knowledge-sharing session. If not about COP values for a heat pump, then about what is possible with SDE++ subsidies. Not all growers present know all the ins and outs of this, logically enough.
Bob advises growers to look carefully at the option of getting SDE++ subsidies. The amounts available from that subsidy pot make the calculation for an air-water heat pump, for example, a lot more positive. However, there are also conditions you have to meet. Not all companies for whom plenary calculations are made meet these. If you come out below a certain thermal capacity (5000 KWh), you can forget about the SDE++ subsidy.
"Saving is always better"
One of the sample growers stands out with low gas consumption. Double screens and The New Cultivation help here. Electricity consumption does rise here, for dehumidification. One of the general conclusions after an afternoon of calculations is that a heat pump is more difficult to recover from those who already use energy efficiently. Bob: "Saving energy is always better."
In the last half hour, host Peter van der Avoird himself joins in. He talks briefly about the thermal storage system the company uses. The growers then go into the greenhouse with Peter for a while. All that calculation work is fun, but in the greenhouse, that's where it happens.
Friday 15 November a similar meeting of Kas als Energiebron (Greenhouse as Energy Source) on the energy supply of solitary soft fruit farms will take place at Genson Group in Sint-Oedenrode.