What is a dynamic energy contract?

With a dynamic energy contract, you do not pay fixed tariffs for electricity and gas. The tariffs are equal to spot market prices. spotmarkt. For gas, these tariffs change every day at 6am. The electricity price changes every hour and is already set a day earlier around 1pm (so-called ‘day ahead’ prices). The more demand, the higher the price and vice versa.

What are the differences between dynamic, variable and fixed energy tariffs?

Dynamic tariffs move with the price on the spot market. So you may find that you can do laundry more cheaply in the afternoon than in the morning. It may even happen that there is so much power production that there is a negative power price. You will then even get money up front. You can cancel a dynamic energy contract (depending on the supplier) monthly or even daily.

With a variable contract, you have tariffs that the energy supplier can adjust every month, quarter or six months. With fixed tariffs, you know where you stand for a longer period of time, usually one, two or three years.

How do solar panels and dynamic tariffs work?

With a dynamic energy contract, the power you generate is netted against the power you consume. Just like a fixed or variable energy contract. Do you generate more on an annual basis than you consume? Then keep in mind that the feed-in compensation also changes every hour. This is settled once a year in the annual statement.

Is it better to take out a dynamic or variable energy contract?

There is no single answer to the question of whether it is better to take out a dynamic or variable energy contract. A dynamic energy contract can work in your favour if you are actively engaged with energy consumption in your home and are able to control it. If you have an electric car and home charging facilities, a dynamic energy contract could be attractive. You can then charge your car when power rates are low.

Would I have been cheaper last year with a dynamic energy contract?

The two graphs from energy supplier Zonneplan show the differences over the month of May 2023 and indicate the average over the last 12 months. Dynamic energy tariffs are on average about 30% lower compared to fixed energy tariffs.

To determine whether dynamic energy tariffs are for you, you need to ask yourself whether you can sufficiently control energy consumption in your home. Furthermore, you should not be alarmed if energy costs are temporarily high.

Caption: In October 2022, the average Dutchman with a fixed contract was €0.82 per kWh for electricity and €3.82 per m³ lost. A user of a dynamic energy contract in this example from Zonneplan paid an average of 0.25 per kWh for electricity and 1.41 per m for gas³.

Kill two birds with one stone. Your CO₂ emissions and save energy costs.

Capitalising on the benefits of dynamic energy tariffs takes a lot of your time and attention. In addition, managing your gas consumption is more difficult, while these costs account for the lion's share of your total energy costs. This is apart from the fact that with a dynamic energy contract, you are not directly contributing to reducing the much-discussed CO₂ emission.

Would you like to make your home more sustainable and thus save on your energy costs and also reduce your CO₂ emissions? Woondokter specialises in providing independent customised advice on making homes more sustainable. To gain insight into the possibilities and costs of effectively making your home more sustainable, Woondokter has the WoningPlan and WoningPlan+ developed. Using the WoningPlan(+), Woondokter advises and reports on the preservation of your entire home in a proven six-step approach. This ensures that all structural aspects and installations of the house have been assessed in terms of possibilities and costs. You can read all about it on the website of Woondokter.

A number of municipalities and the government subsidize making homes more sustainable. More information can be found on our website.