Economic affairs minister Maxime Verhagen will look in to reclaiming some €3m in subsidies paid to energy company Nuon if it goes ahead with the rumoured sale of its solar panel research arm Helianthos, he told MPs on Monday.

The ministry has put a total €20.6m into the company since it was started in 1997. Of this, €17.3m has been spent according to the book, Verhagen told MPs in a statement.
With regards to the rest, ‘I will monitor developments… and see if they have implications for the subsidy,’ the minister said.
Gelderland
Nuon bought Helianthos from Akzo Nobel in 2006 and relocated it to Arnhem in return for a €7m grant from Gelderland province.
Gelderland has already said it will reclaim that cash if Nuon does not stick to the agreement.
Nuon has not formally put Helianthos, which has a workforce of 60, up for sale, saying it is looking for a strategic partner.
Documents
But last month the Volkskrant quoted internal company documents which said Nuon is to sell or close down the operation as part of a cost-cutting measure by parent group Vattenfall.
In his letter, Verhagen pointed out that the commitment made to continuing Nuon’s renewable energy strategy at the time of the takeover did not mention Helianthos by name.
In addition, further investment of some €200m would be needed to develop a fully-functioning production centre, he said.