News item | 22-01-2024 | 09:31
Dutch households, companies and organizations are becoming more sustainable at a record pace and fossil fuels are making way for sustainable electricity. This is good news for the energy transition and the affordability of energy, and also makes the Netherlands less dependent on foreign countries. At the same time, this development puts great pressure on our electricity grid. The national government, grid operators and other parties involved previously announced additional measures to prevent and limit problems with the full electricity grid. With the action agenda presented today, the parties involved are also taking measures to combat congestion on the low-voltage grid, to which households and small businesses, among others, are connected.
Low-voltage grid
The low-voltage grid, which transports electricity locally to households, organizations and small businesses, is also increasingly reaching its limits. This is partly due to congestion on the medium and high-voltage grid (the “highways and provincial roads of the electricity grid”, for which measures have previously been announced) and because the demand for space on the local power grid is growing faster than the grid operators can expand the grid. . This increases the risk of disruptions and queues for new or heavier connections.
With the action agenda for low-voltage grids, the national government, grid operators, municipalities, provinces, regulator ACM and involved industry associations and market parties are jointly taking measures to limit and prevent problems with the full power grid. The agenda is aimed at expanding the local power grid more quickly, improving insight into the (future) use of the grid and making more efficient use of the grid.
Expand power grid
It is estimated that between 80,000 and 105,000 kilometers of cable (2 times around the earth) will have to be laid and 37,000 to 54,000 electricity houses will have to be built until 2035. Not only a shortage of personnel and materials is a challenge, but also finding sufficient space for this .
The action agenda is aimed, among other things, at accelerating the expansion of the low-voltage grid. For example, by introducing a fixed approach for all neighborhoods to more quickly find the required space and make land available. The grid operators have also started a neighborhood approach. This means that they future-proof the electricity grid in an entire neighborhood at once. This means that all neighborhoods in the Netherlands will be affected in the coming years. This allows grid operators to work more efficiently and residents experience less nuisance in the street. The network operators work closely with municipalities for this.
Better insight
In contrast to the high- and medium-voltage grid, grid operators for the low-voltage grids still have insufficient insight into the actual use by households and other small consumers. The parties involved have previously made agreements with the Dutch Data Protection Authority about the use of consumption data from smart meters, and are now developing an approach to using that data anonymously. This can help grid operators to determine more precisely where and how much the grid needs to be reinforced and where the need is greatest.
Make more efficient use of the grid
In addition to expanding the power grid and improving insight, more efficient use of the low-voltage grids – especially at peak times when a lot of electricity is used – is of great importance. This can be done, for example, by (automatically) adjusting the power consumption of charging stations to the space on the power grid at that time (grid-aware charging). The parties involved are investigating the role that smartly controllable devices, such as charging stations and heat pumps, can play in preventing and solving power shortages. The interests of households and other small consumers will be carefully taken into account and the customer’s consent is the starting point. The results are expected at the end of this year.
The government is also working on device-specific measures. For example, to encourage the use of electric cars as batteries (bi-directional charging) and to investigate how the shutdown of solar panel inverters can be prevented or limited. For public charging stations, flexible charging will become a standard part of contracts with municipalities.