Dutch power grid overloaded in more places; No new connections possible

The electricity grid has reached its maximum capacity for supplying power to large consumers in even more places, grid operator Liander announced. This means that it can make no new connections for businesses, schools, and hospitals.

The new “botllenecks” have arisen on the electricity grid in Amsterdam, Flevoland, Gelderland, and Noord-Hollland. Companies and institutions that want to expand or connect new buildings cannot do so, said a spokesperson for Liander.

The power grid needs to be reinforced and expanded to solve the problem. But that won’t happen quickly. Consumers will also be increasingly affected by this, according to Liander. “They are already noticing it if, for example, you cannot return electricity with solar panels,” said the spokesperson.

She pointed out that Liander is also struggling with shortages of materials like chips, cables, wires, and meters. “Eventually, everyone will suffer from this. It is starting to rattle and shake more and more,” said the spokesperson.

As an example of where problems arise, she said that people are now buying solar panels en masse. “But the cable in your neighborhood is too thin. It can’t handle all that. As a result, you can’t return the electricity, and you can’t earn back. It can also happen that lamps flicker or that you can’t charge your car, for example.”

According to Liander, the Netherlands once had a very nice system with which there were almost never any problems. “But now, with the volatility of solar and wind supply, it is becoming a very different story. The whole system has to be overhauled.”

The fact that people want to build large solar parks in places in the Netherlands where the land price is low does not help either, the grid operator added. “The infrastructure is not built for this. We now have to go into 25th gear to adjust everything, but that just doesn’t work at the pace that everyone wants.”