What will we notice from the multi-billion dollar investment that is needed to counteract problems with the electricity grid?

The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. Not only among companies and institutions, more and more consumers are also interested in sustainable alternatives. For example, think of the electric car and heat pumps. But the large amounts of power do not always fit through the underground power cables, resulting in congestion on the electricity grid. And that must be addressed in the coming years, says grid operator Liander.

Additional electricity stations

According to spokesman Peter Hofland, one in three streets will be opened up to 2050 to lay new electricity cables and install extra transformer houses and electricity stations. In the coming years, for example, work will be done on a new electricity station in Purmerend and the stations in Hoogwoud, Medemblik, Den Helder and Anna Paulowna will be expanded.

According to Hofland, the investment is badly needed. At present, companies and institutions regularly end up on waiting lists for connection to the electricity grid. This regularly leads to sleepless nights for entrepreneurs, such as Fred Kroket from Zaanstreek-Waterland.

But it is not only companies and institutions that are affected, consumers are also experiencing the necessary nuisance. Although they do not end up on a waiting list – everyone is automatically admitted to the network – in certain cases they have to wait longer for their electricity. Suppose you buy an electric car and want a charging station in your front yard, then you need some patience. This also applies to the installation of a heat pump.

For owners of solar panels, it is possible that on sunny days, with a lot of solar energy, the solar panels fail. Owners feel this in their wallets, because it is precisely by returning extra energy that they can earn. Laura has dozens of solar panels that fail when the weather is nice. “If we had known this in advance, we might have opted for a gas connection again, because then we would not have used so much power,” said Laura Vonk earlier against NH News.

Disable solar panels

On sunny days, much more energy is generated than consumed, so that a lot of energy can be sent back to the network. With too much extra current, the maximum voltage on the electricity grid is reached. The protection mechanism on the solar panels then switches the panels off automatically. This is to prevent burnout.

With the investment of billions, Liander hopes to put an end to the bottlenecks that have arisen. However, this does not solve all problems in one go. There is a serious shortage of technical personnel. According to Hofland, this has been taken into account when making the current plans. “But of course you don’t know how it will develop.” It is estimated that solving the current problems and tackling new bottlenecks will take until at least 2030.