Pieter Seldenrijk, a dairy farmer from Eemnes, will be the first farmer in the province of Utrecht to lease pastureland for solar energy next year. The zoning plan for the area of 7,5 hectares has been adjusted and the subsidy has now been awarded. "For the time being, I can't make a good calculation about the earnings."
Pieter Seldenrijk milks 120 cows and enters into a 16-year rental contract with the company KiesZon from Rosmalen (North Brabant), a subsidiary of energy supplier GreenChoice. The solar power generated from the 14.545 panels is intended for 1.000 households in Eemnes.
The goal is to be operational before the 2018 construction holiday. Seldenrijk: "For one hectare of silage maize on that piece, I receive €2.000. I expect that the earnings for renting out this solar park will be better."
Economic progress?
Seldenrijk is a forerunner in this area in the Netherlands. The disadvantage of this, however, is that it is so new that the Ministry of Finance does not yet have guidelines for such a project. Seldenrijk assumes that he will benefit economically from the contract. But that is not certain.
This is because of the many ambiguities. For example, will the payment rights on the rented plot change? And will the change in destination have consequences for the WEVAB (Value in Economic Traffic for Agricultural Destination)?
The lack of tax regulations makes it very difficult for the dairy farmer to agree on an appropriate rental compensation with the project developer of the solar park. "For the time being, I cannot make a proper calculation about the earnings," Seldenrijk explains.
Individual situation important
Peter van Brakel, tax specialist at Accon avm, recognizes that the government's lack of clarity is a problem. "The tax consequences of installing these panels depend on the individual situation. The question is whether there is still an agricultural business after the installation of the solar panels. Another question is whether the surface of the solar panels after the rental period , comes back to the agricultural business."
If the entire area is not used for the panels, the land may remain within the agricultural business. "Then the annual proceeds are taxed," the tax specialist explains. "If that is the case, then there is no longer an agricultural business and the land must be transferred to private assets." As a result, a WEV/WEVAB difference is found on the land, which must be settled. "It is difficult to estimate how high that levy is."
Many questions still remain. That is why Van Brakel advises all farmers with such rental plans to make their own tax assessment.