With network operator Schiphol Utilities: Registration of production installations
Are you planning to produce energy using a sustainable method? Schiphol encourages the generation and use of sustainable energy!
If you are about to install a production installation, it is important that you notify us so that we can keep an overview of all sustainable developments and monitor the safety of our distribution network. We have described the various steps of the registration process below. This information will help you register your production installation.
You have submitted your registration application, what now?
When your registration application arrives, it will be checked to ensure that you have provided all the necessary information. If we have any questions, we will contact you so that we can complete the form together. Once everything is clear, we will process the application. Firstly, we will carry out a network check. This entails investigating whether there is capacity on the electricity distribution network for the electricity produced by your installation to be fed in. We will inform you when this has been finalised and whether your application is to be approved or rejected.
Read more about registration
On the approval of your application, we will send you the following:
- the European Article Numbering (EAN) code of the Schiphol Closed Distribution System (GDS) that applies to your production installation;
- a DCO EAN code (which you will need later in the application process);
- a transport indication to be issued by us. You will need this document if you wish to apply for an SDE++ subsidy.
Please note: the issue of a transport indication does not grant the right to feed-in! Before this is the case, we have to draw up the connection, transport and services agreement later in the application process or revise the existing agreement.
If you have any questions about this part of the application process, don’t hesitate to contact us via utilityservices@schiphol.nl.
2. Mandatory permits and guidelines
Various permits, such as environmental permits, lifting permits and planning permission, are generally required for production installations. Moreover, safety requirements and activities also have to be taken into account. In order to determine the permits applicable to your installation, we request that you notify the permit counter of your project via vergunningen@schiphol.nl.
After you have notified the permit counter of your project, it will be discussed in the Central Permit Consultation (COV). You will subsequently be informed of the permits you will need, any studies that may be required and the information you will have to provide.
Read more about permits and guidelines
If your production installation comprises solar panels, the permit counter will, in any case, need the following information:
- technical specifications of the solar panels;
- the position of the solar panels on the roof;
- a drawing of the building showing the solar panels (side view);
- a drawing on which the building’s location in relation to the environs is clearly visible (that is, in relation to the air traffic control tower and runways);
- the orientation of the solar panels in relation to the air traffic control tower because of any possible hindrance due to the reflection of sunlight.
Other supplementary studies may also be necessary. What is known as a ‘glare and glint study’ by a specialist consultancy may, for example, be required to ensure that the sight of pilots and employees in the air traffic control tower and on the airside is not compromised by the solar panels.
Guidelines
The energy transition at and around our airport entails additional safety risks. This is why a Safe Energy Transition (VET) taskforce has been set up. This taskforce lays down supplemental guidelines, such as the Basic Requirements for the Fire-safe Application of Photovoltaic Systems. It is essential that you take these guidelines into account when developing your solar installation. The Permit team can provide you with any information you may need.
3. Applications for SDE++ subsidies
In some cases, subsidies are available for the production of sustainable energy. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has set up the Sustainable Energy Production and Climate Transition Incentive Scheme (SDE++) for this purpose. Eligibility for a subsidy under this scheme is subject to a number of conditions. You must, for example, have a transport indication (which we will send you if there is capacity available on the distribution network). The RVO website provides more information about the SDE++ subsidy, how to apply for it and the conditions that have to be met.
4. Registration of production installations with Liander and VertiCer
A production installation generates electricity. The origin of every unit of sustainably-produced electricity must be registered. The name of the related certificate for sustainable energy carriers, such as solar energy, is the Guarantee of Origin (GvO).
In the Netherlands, Guarantees of Origin for sustainable energy carriers and Certificates of Origin for non-sustainable electricity are issued by VertiCer. A Guarantee of Origin is the only form of proof that energy has been generated by a sustainable method. A compulsory condition for eligibility for an SDE++ subsidy is that you register your solar installation with VertiCer as a production installation.
Lees meer over aanmelden bij Liander en VertiCer
Prior to this, you have to apply to Liander, the present network operator of the Schiphol global distribution system (GDS), for approval. To this end, please send an email to zakelijke.klant@liander.nl, containing the following:
- our approval (email) of your registration of the production installation;
- the EAN code from the Schiphol GDS (which is given in the approval email);
- the DCO EAN code (which is also given in the approval email);
- the completion document you receive from your utilities contractor or supplier when the installation is delivered or the invoice or quotation signed by both parties. In any case, this document must include: the total capacity (entire output of the production installation, the overall power of the inverters) and the connection location (connection address) of the production installation.
Once Liander has approved your solar installation, you can register as an electricity producer via VertiCer’s website. One aspect of the registration is the selection of a ‘power trader’. In practice, this party will usually be an electricity supplier. Schiphol is also a power trader, but only for its own installations.
After VertiCer has approved your registration, you will receive confirmation, indicating that this part of the registration process has been finalised. We will also receive a copy of this email. On the basis of this email, we will send you (an update of) the related connection, transport and services agreement we use to officially lay down the feed-in transport capacity to be contracted between our two parties. We will send this agreement via DocuSign so that you will be able to sign it online with a digital signature. When the agreement has been signed by both parties, you will automatically receive an email with the signed version as confirmation and you will be entitled to the agreed capacity.
If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to contact us via utilityservices@schiphol.nl.
5. Request for the installation of a gross production meter
We will install a gross production meter at your site to enable us to measure how much electricity your production installation produces. Please contact us via utilityservices@schiphol.nl as soon as you have received confirmation of registration from VertiCer. If your site has multiple forms of production installations, we will install a separate gross production meter for each installation. The Schiphol Utilities meter operator is responsible for reading gross production meters. We charge a fixed amount every month for this metering service and for the operation and maintenance of meters. This amount can be found on your invoice under ‘Metering service’.
6. Contact a/your energy supplier
In conclusion, it is important that you choose an energy supplier and inform this supplier that you have a production installation that is going to feed electricity into the Schiphol Utilities distribution network. The energy supplier will conclude a contract with you for the electricity supplied. If you already have a contract with an energy supplier to purchase electricity, this feed-in may have consequences for your existing contract. It is therefore always important to contact your energy supplier.
7. Putting your production installation into operation
If everything has been arranged and your utilities contractor has installed the production installation, it is time to get it up and running. We carry out this process jointly with you. We make a final check of whether the production installation in question meets all the requirements and, if this is the case, theoretically there are no more obstacles to you putting it into operation (or having it put into operation)!