Zeeland power grid is full, grid operator stops new requests from major consumers

The power grid in Zeeland is full, grid operator TenneT reports. Large consumers, such as large companies, are therefore temporarily unable to request new connections or upgrade their current connections. The Noordoostpolder is now also a ‘congestion area’.

TenneT writes that Zeeland’s high-voltage grid is at its maximum capacity. According to the grid operator, this is due to a ‘strongly growing number of requests for connecting electrolysers, batteries and the electrification of industrial processes’. Together, these applications amount to 3.5GW. That is approximately eight times the current power consumption of the province of Zeeland, says TenneT.

Now that the power grid in Zeeland is full, the grid operator is introducing a temporary stop on new requests from large consumers, such as large companies. Such large consumers are therefore temporarily unable to request new connections. It is also not possible for them to strengthen their existing connection. TenneT does not say until when this stop is expected to remain in place. Over the next ten years, the network operator will invest more than one billion euros to increase the capacity of the Zeeland network. This is expected to be completely completed between 2033 and 2035.

A temporary stop on new applications has also been introduced in the Noordoostpolder. “Due to the rapid growth of solar parks and wind turbines, the limits of the capacity of the high-voltage grid in the Noordoostpolder are coming into view,” writes TenneT. This will be faster than the grid expansions that TenneT can introduce. Producers who want a connection in the Noordoostpolder will therefore be put on a waiting list. TenneT also continues to work on its grid expansions in that region, which will be delivered gradually ‘until 2031’.

Zeeland is not the first province where the power grid has reached its capacity. This has already happened in Limburg, North Brabant and Overijssel. In Brabant and Limburg, space later became available on the net. This was achieved through congestion management, or ‘rush hour avoidance’. Large companies use electricity at different times. TenneT is investigating whether this is also possible for Zeeland and the Noordoostpolder, in order to create space for new connections in the short term.