Grid operator Enexis receives a loan of 500 million euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The money is intended to strengthen and expand the electricity grid in five provinces, including Drenthe and Groningen.
The investment comes at a time when the power grid is filling up or already filling up in many places in the Netherlands.
With the loan, Enexis wants to upgrade or re-lay 7,500 kilometers of underground cables. The money will also go towards the installation of 370,000 smart meters. This is an energy meter that can be read remotely, so that meter readings no longer have to be transmitted. The investment by the EIB not only benefits the power grid. The project is expected to create 6,500 full-time jobs during the construction phase.
Financial CEO of Enexis Mariëlle Vogt is happy with the loan. “We will carry out the network improvements that we can now finance in the areas where Enexis is active: the provinces of Drenthe, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Overijssel,” she says. “We are pleased that the EIB confirms its commitment to the implementation of our strategy with this loan.”
Rapid increase in demand for electricity
Grid operator Stedin reported on Wednesday that the power grid in parts of The Hague has reached its maximum capacity. Major consumers in the Hague region will therefore probably no longer be able to get a connection in the next ten years. TenneT and Enexis reported that a large part of the grid in the provinces of Groningen and Overijssel will also be closed.
The electricity grid in the Netherlands is under pressure, because companies and consumers are increasingly demanding extra capacity. This is, for example, because they are moving away from natural gas or driving electrically. Grid operators cannot expand the grid as quickly as demand increases. It was not anticipated that the demand for electricity would increase so rapidly.
Strengthening the power grid is therefore important with a view to the energy transition. “In this way we prevent energy from being lost during peak periods of wind or sunlight,” explains EIB Vice President Kris Peeters. “Enexis will significantly strengthen and expand its network to enable the transition to green energy, and we are happy to support that.”