You often hear us talk about it: direct self-consumption (using the energy you generate straight away). But why is that so important? What does it actually mean for your farm? Let’s break it down.
When we talk about self-consumption, we mean that the electricity you generate with solar panels or a small wind turbine is used immediately on your farm.
For example: it’s a windy day and the ventilators in your barns are running. In that moment, you’re using the power that your wind turbine is generating. That’s direct self-consumption.
The benefits of using the power you generate straight away
If your energy production matches your energy use, more of your power stays on your farm and less goes back to the grid.
The better the match, the better the outcome. You can improve this with wind, solar (or both), and even more by adding battery storage.
A higher level of self-consumption gives you:
More independence from energy suppliers - both in buying and selling electricity.
Better efficiency from your energy system - which boosts self-sufficiency and shortens your payback time.
Less impact from grid congestion - because you rely less on the overloaded network.
A major sustainability gain - thanks to producing your own renewable energy instead of depending on fossil fuels.
The Dutch government plans to end the net-metering scheme in 2027. When that happens, when you use your power becomes even more important.
If you use energy the moment you generate it:
you don’t have to buy expensive power from the grid
and you don’t need to feed anything back either
This is especially valuable now that:
energy prices are unpredictable (and can change every 15 minutes)
gas-linked electricity prices can rise quickly
feed-in prices are dropping as more renewable energy enters the grid
If you use your own generated power, you avoid all of this.
Installing solar panels or a small wind turbine is an investment. Naturally, you want that investment to deliver. The best way to do that is by increasing self-consumption — using your own generated power instead of sending it back to the grid.
Especially now that net-metering is ending for small users and feed-in penalties are becoming a reality, self-consumption is financially the smartest choice.
When you use your generated energy straight away, you avoid grid-capacity issues. On sunny, windy days, the grid often can’t handle all the power being fed back. That means feeding in is sometimes no longer possible.
Because small wind turbines generate more steadily throughout the day and year, achieving good self-consumption is often easier with wind than with solar alone.
Your own energy system means your own green electricity. Wind doesn’t run out, and it doesn’t cost the planet anything. Truly future-proof!
Sustainable initiatives also receive support, both from the government (subsidies) and from financial partners. For example, farmer Anne de Boer was able to secure a green loan to finance one of our farm-yard wind turbines.
Feel free to reach out to our team for a chat or a free site analysis!