Judge rules electricity grid in Haarlemmermeer is full, data centre connection delayed

TenneT has received court approval to pause work on a planned electricity grid connection due to capacity constraints in the power network. A data centre developer near Schiphol challenged the decision in summary proceedings, but the court in Arnhem dismissed the claim and ruled in favour of the grid operator.

The case centres on the Vijfhuizen high-voltage substation in the Haarlemmermeer region, near Schiphol Airport. The station is a key node in the regional transmission grid and supplies electricity to parts of Haarlem, Haarlemmermeer, and surrounding industrial and infrastructure users.

The court found that the electricity grid in the relevant region is genuinely at full capacity, based on available evidence. Multiple applicants seeking a connection in the area, including developer Goodman, have been placed on a waiting list by TenneT. Their requests will remain on hold until additional grid capacity is freed up.

Goodman claimed that its grid connection process was already advanced enough for it to be classified as a contracted customer, which would prevent it from being put on a waiting list. The court, however, concluded that the company does not meet the criteria for that status.

Goodman requested a 70-megawatt grid connection, roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of tens of thousands of households.

The developer asked the court to impose a penalty of 500,000 euros per day if TenneT failed to resume or complete the works, starting from 1 June 2026. Goodman also stated that it had already invested approximately 500,000 euros in permitting and preliminary grid connection costs, alongside broader development-related expenditures.

TenneT sent letters in early 2026 to a limited number of companies in the Schiphol region informing them that their connection requests were temporarily paused due to grid congestion, with capacity constraints in the area potentially persisting until around 2035.