Across the Netherlands, we’re making big steps in generating more renewable energy. Solar and wind installations have grown rapidly in recent years — a great development for the national energy supply and for your own on-site independence.
But with that growth comes a challenge you hear more and more about: grid congestion.
What is it? And what can you do about it?
Grid congestion means the electricity grid doesn’t have enough capacity to handle the amount of power that is being demanded or fed back at a given moment.
Simply put: a traffic jam on the power grid.
In recent years, our electricity use has increased significantly, at home and in businesses.
Things like:
All of this adds pressure to the grid.
We also generate far more electricity ourselves.
In 2023 alone, the number of homes with solar panels grew by nearly 30%.
Any energy that isn’t used immediately is fed back into the grid, and transporting this power requires capacity. When that capacity isn’t available, you get grid congestion.
There are two types of congestion, each with its own peak moment:
This happens when a lot of electricity is being used at the same time, usually in the evenings when people return home, cook, run appliances, or charge EVs.
The grid isn’t designed for this high simultaneous demand.
This happens when a lot of electricity is being fed back into the grid at once.
This typically occurs during sunny daytime hours, when many solar installations are producing at full power while most people are away from home.
The more solar generation we add, the bigger this midday feed-in peak becomes.
There are two major consequences of grid congestion:
Because these peaks are predictable, large power stations often increase output to stabilise the grid.
The voltage on the grid rises. Inverters are legally required to shut down when the voltage exceeds 253 volts. When that happens:
Exactly the opposite of what you want after investing in your own system.
The root problem is that the Dutch grid is too small for today’s demand and generation.
Solving this requires years of work and major investments.
For example:
The government and grid operators are stimulating better alignment between production and consumption.
Examples:
All are designed to ease pressure on the grid.
Source image: TenneT. New power highway between Eemshaven and Vierverlaten
Even though there’s no quick solution, you CAN reduce the impact on your own business.
If you generate power yourself, try to use as much of it as possible directly.
For example:
This is also known as self-consumption.
Battery storage will play a major role in reducing grid congestion.
With a battery you can:
Batteries help balance daily fluctuations. To balance seasonal fluctuations, the ideal combination is still:
wind in winter, sun in summer.
Even if you don’t generate your own energy, you can still help by avoiding the worst peak moments.
It doesn’t mean you have to stop using electricity, but anything you can schedule, try to run during daytime feed-in peaks instead of evening demand peaks.
We’ve talked a lot about solar...but what about wind?
A small wind turbine also generates renewable electricity, but it causes less pressure on the grid than solar. Why?
Its seasonal variation is also smaller than solar’s huge winter dip and summer peak.
Because wind production is more evenly distributed, it often aligns better with the energy profile of farms and rural businesses.
The more of your own wind energy you can use directly, the less you need the grid, and the less you feel the effects of congestion!
Feel free to reach out to our team for a chat or a free site analysis!