In November last year, energy coordinator Michiel Van der Wal managed to get a subsidy through the SDE+-scheme that will enable the cost of the solar panels to be recouped in eight years. The government makes up the price per kWh generated to 13 cents, doing so for 15 years up to a maximum of 100,000 kWh per year. At present Wageningen UR buys electricity at about 4.5 cents per kWh, so the subsidy is 8.5 cents, explains Van der Wal. In March, the Executive Board approved the construction of the hall, which is budgeted at 5.4 million euros. ‘The tender process has let us keep comfortably within that budget,’ says Henri ten Klooster, head of De Bongerd Sports Centre.
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Then they had to wait and see whether the solar panels would be approved too. ‘But we had always allowed for the possibility of solar panels on the roof in the design for the sports hall. If it hadn’t worked out this time, we could have installed them at a later date,’ says Ten Klooster. ‘I’d wanted solar panels on the current sports hall for years but the roof isn’t strong enough.