Problems with getting a connection to be able to purchase or supply power will continue to exist for the time being, despite the fact that traffic jams on the electricity grid (network congestion) were the first to occur in Drenthe. That is why Drenthe has a head start, thinks the province.
“We will have to make choices”, says energy and climate deputy Tjisse Stelsptra at the presentation of the so-called ‘Multi-year Program for the Infrastructure of Energy and Climate (pMIEK)’.
This program should lead to better coordination between grid managers TenneT and Enexis and municipalities about where the new power cables should be placed. Large parts of the current power grid are too tight for both the purchase of power and the supply of power from sustainable energy generation. The problem occurs throughout the province, but is most severe in Southeast Drenthe.
“In Drenthe, homes are given priority,” says Stelpstra. “That applies to new construction and sustainability. Only then do the company connections come in. Of course we are looking at whether it is necessary to lay a very long cable for a few houses somewhere. A company with a high energy demand may need to be able to build a wind turbine instead of only have a thick energy cable installed. And in all cases, a connection for power will be purchased for supplying power (back).
Because Drenthe was the first to experience network congestion, Stelpstra believes that there is a head start because plans have already been made with high-voltage network manager Tennet and medium and low-voltage manager Enexis for investments and expansion of the power network.
But supply and demand and the time frame in which part of the grid is reinforced are not synchronized. Installing new cables, transformers and voltage substations takes time. The construction is also sometimes frustrated by the nitrogen problem, such as the Drents-Overijssel network reinforcement around Meppel and Hoogeveen. The same applies to the Northeast Netherlands Grid Reinforcement at Veenoord. Those two important projects are being delayed by the deadlock over nitrogen. Stelpstra: “Despite the lead, choices are therefore necessary.”
pMIEK is one of the components of the Drents Grid Congestion Action Program and is intended to provide more control. What is needed first? Through faster processing of permits and procedures for new cable routes, grid managers such as TenneT, Exexis and Rendo should be able to get started more quickly. Another option is to increase flexibility: to ‘spread out’ peaks in electricity demand and feed back electricity so that the current grid can cope better.
The pMIEK is produced by all provinces at the request of the Minister for Climate and Energy. The province has the directing role in this, but according to Stelsptra it is an arbitrator without powers.’ According to the deputy, this must be regulated either in the Energy Act or through Spatial Planning. “If there is a power, it should be with the provinces.”