The government is making 60 million euros in subsidies available for construction companies to switch to zero-emission machines, such as electric cranes, hydrogen-powered concrete mixers and battery-powered excavators. The government is also making millions available for more hydrogen filling stations and trucks.
State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management): “We all know that nitrogen is a problem, also for construction. With emission-free machines, we are increasingly helping to eliminate that problem. I know that construction is eager, because last year the subsidy pot was empty within one day. That is why I am putting a lot more into it next year, because I really want to make progress with the sector. On the way to a busy construction site, but without nitrogen and exhaust fumes.”
Builders can receive a subsidy for the purchase of a clean construction machine, or for the conversion of a polluting construction machine into a clean one. There are also subsidy possibilities for the installation of catalytic converters, which capture many pollutants so that they do not end up in the air.
The subsidy is needed because construction equipment that runs on hydrogen or batteries is often much more expensive than equipment that runs on diesel. With the subsidy, builders can get up to 40% of the price difference with diesel reimbursed. For smaller entrepreneurs, that percentage is higher than for larger entrepreneurs, in order to also help SMEs with the transition.
Entrepreneurs can also get a helping hand when purchasing an emission-free truck. A total of 30 million will be available for this in 2023. That is 5 million euros more than last year. The State Secretary is starting a subsidy scheme of €22 million for more hydrogen filling stations and trucks. She writes in a letter to the House of Representatives that the government must speed up with trucks and other heavy vehicles on hydrogen.
With the subsidy scheme, Heijnen wants to give a boost to the use of hydrogen as a fuel on the road. The Climate Agreement from 2019 contains objectives to further develop hydrogen in mobility, in addition to battery-electric driving. One of the objectives is the development of 50 hydrogen filling stations in 2025. There are currently 14 public hydrogen filling stations in operation, some of which are also suitable for heavy road transport. Scaling up is necessary to achieve the objective of 50 filling stations.
The fact that there are few hydrogen filling stations is a barrier to investing in hydrogen trucks. And because there are few trucks driving, it is not attractive to open a hydrogen filling station. Heijnen wants to break this chicken-and-egg problem with a subsidy scheme.
The incentive scheme will start in early 2024. The core is that plans can receive a subsidy for the construction of a petrol station if trucks are also purchased. The €22 million that Heijnen is allocating for this is estimated to be sufficient to get petrol stations with associated trucks off the ground in 5 to 10 locations in the country.
