Our power grid is filling up: what does that mean for you?

We want to live more sustainably. So we cook electrically, charge our cars at home and let the sun work for us via solar panels. But all that power at the same time causes congestion on the grid. We call that grid congestion – a traffic jam on the power grid.

What does that mean exactly, and how can households directly contribute to the solution with smart choices? We asked Franc Klomp (congestion manager) and Marloes Koenraads (proposition manager built environment) of grid operator Stedin.

You can think of the power grid as a road network, Franc explains. 'The thick high-voltage lines are like major highways, the medium-voltage stations are like provincial roads and the thin low-voltage cables are the local streets that go straight to your house.'

'Network congestion is actually just a traffic jam: too much power that wants to flow through the same cables at the same time. But just like on the road, it is often quiet at night. So the problem is not always present. In Zeeland, this mainly occurs on the large 'highways', the high-voltage power lines.'

In the case of grid congestion, we distinguish between small consumers (such as your home or a small shop) and large consumers (such as factories or a large shopping centre).

There are no waiting lists for households for a new connection or solar panels, says Marloes.

'But larger projects: such as a new neighbourhood with a school or supermarket need a heavier connection. The power grid is often full there. If we do nothing, it will be difficult to connect sustainable projects, shopping centres or companies.'

In Zeeland, grid congestion is not a thing of the future.

'Parts of Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen have been at their limit for feed-in since 2020. More recently, areas have been added, including Veere (except Koudekerke and Biggekerke). TenneT has reached the limit for offtake throughout Zeeland since the summer of 2023.'

'Sometimes companies are unable to establish themselves or expand. New construction is delayed. For large consumers, this often means years of waiting,' says Franc.

But there is also good news: 'TenneT (the grid operator of the high-voltage grid in the Netherlands) recently contracted flexible capacity from one of its customers, allowing the grid operators to shorten part of the waiting list (for purchase) in various regions in Zeeland.'

The bottleneck is on two sides. 'On sunny afternoons, solar panels simultaneously supply a lot of power. And around dinner time, demand increases: everyone charges the car, cooks and turns on the dishwasher,' Franc explains.

Expanding the power grid takes time. This means that bottlenecks will continue to exist for the time being. But we can already do something now: shift part of our power consumption to times when the grid is less loaded. In this way, you help to relieve the power grid and make room for others.

It actually makes perfect sense, says Marloes. 'If you charge your electric car during the day instead of at night, or if you run your washing machine when the sun is shining and solar panels are delivering plenty of energy, you help to relieve the grid.'

"You certainly don't have to suddenly start cooking at 4 p.m. or wait until 10 p.m. to shower," Marloes reassures.

'It's precisely about things where timing is less critical. Think of heating up your house an hour earlier, or turning on the dishwasher as soon as the sun shines. Small actions that do not affect your comfort, but do make a difference.'

In the UK, households are already participating – and with great success. The more people who participate, the greater the impact.

All the insights above may sound logical, but they only really yield something if we put them into practice. That is why DELTA Energie and Stedin are starting a trial in which around 500 customers participate. Together we are curious about the effect it has if a large group of customers shift their electricity consumption to times when a lot of solar energy is generated.

'Customers with and without solar panels participate,' says Marloes. 'We measure the effect at group level. That way we discover how we can use electricity more intelligently together.'