No new power connections for large energy users in The Hague, Groningen and Overijssel

Companies in The Hague which consume large amounts of energy will not be granted a new power grid connections for the next ten years, electricity grid operator Stedin announced on Wednesday. The decision mainly affects the center of The Hague, Duindorp and Scheveningen. Additionally, a large portion of the electricity grid in the Provinces of Groningen and Overijssel will also be closed, grid operators TenneT and Enexis said.

Applicants for new major connections in The Hague will be placed on a waiting list. Organizations that can no longer be connected include companies that want to replace their fleet of motor vehicles with electric vehicles, and plan to install five or more charging stations. A connection for a commercial property with an elevator may also not be possible. It will take until 2033 before they can be connected, when the power grid has been structurally expanded and strengthened, a spokesperson for Stedin said.

Residents and companies based in The Hague that already have connections will not notice the measure. The construction of new homes can also continue as normal, the spokesperson said.

"This measure leaves room on the electricity grid for households and small entrepreneurs. For example, heat pumps can still be installed in homes, people can switch to electric cooking and small-scale consumption connections can be set up for individual new-construction homes," says Stedin.

As in many other parts of the Netherlands, the power grid in The Hague is nearing its maximum capacity due to the growing demand for electricity. "The demand for electricity in The Hague is expected to increase by around 60 percent until 2030. This is comparable to the consumption of the whole of Ypenburg," Stedin said, referring to an entire district in The Hague. "This means that the demand for electricity exceeds the limits of the current infrastructure."

The solution to the grid capacity shortage is to expand and strengthen the current electricity infrastructure. National grid operator TenneT and Stedin are jointly implementing this expansion and reinforcement of the power grid. The expansion work is expected to last until mid-2033. "This long lead time is partly due to the availability of scarce space in the city and the required permits. TenneT and Stedin are having productive discussions with the municipality of The Hague about this." The investments required are estimated at around 100 million euros.

Stedin wants to conduct a study together with large-scale energy consumers regarding a more efficient use of the grid. By better coordinating when large customers consume electricity, electricity grid peaks can be prevented.

Power grids in Groningen and Overijssel are also full

The problems are not hardly isolated to The Hague, and similar capacity issues and waiting lists have been implemented in parts of Gelderland, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland. Wednesday also brought the announcement that a large portion of the grid serving Groningen and Overijssel will also be closed to new major users as more companies and consumers increasingly demand extra capacity amid moves away from natural gas, petrol and diesel.

The decision by TenneT and Enexis in Groningen and Overijssel also mainly affects businesses which will not be able to have their electricity needs met. Grid operators have not been able to expand the grid to match increased demand, which has grown rapidly.

“We are working tirelessly to expand the electricity grid,” said TenneT director Marc de Zwaan. “We realize that this is a very unpleasant situation.”

TenneT and Enexis will ask entrepreneurs whether they can be flexible with their electricity use and reduce consumption at busy times or on busy days in exchange for a fee. According to the network operators, the problems will continue to exist for some time. Expansion of the grid is not expected to provide additional capacity until 2029.

"Our power grid is one of the most reliable in the world. But it was not ready for the rapid developments and the sharp increase in demand," said Enexis director Daphne Verreth. "That is causing bottlenecks on the grid, and it will take time to solve them."

To address the growing demand for electricity, grid operators are focusing on accelerating the construction of electricity stations and expanding the network of cabling. To achieve this, they emphasize that governments must make faster decisions about where and when this can happen. They also argued for making land available at an accelerated rate, and speeding up the approval of permits and other necessary procedures.

This year, grid operators will invest more than five billion euros in power networks across the Netherlands. By 2025, this will increase to eight billion euros per year.