Net Zero is no competition; but if it were, the Netherlands would have a significant lead. Boasting the biggest solar power share in Europe, the country is strides ahead in terms of renewable energy generation. In 2023, almost half of its electricity came from clean energy sources. But this promising progress has hit a major roadblock.
Credit: Neara
Electricity infrastructure in some of the Netherlands’ biggest cities has not grown or developed at the same pace as the country’s renewables expansion. The result? Lack of capacity in the grid is fuelling connection delays and stopping clean energy projects in their tracks. The country is bound by a “gridlock” that is grinding its Net Zero progress to a halt.
However, it’s not just Net Zero that stands to suffer. With electricity networks operating at maximum capacity, consumers are feeling the squeeze. While households are being hit by power outages at times of high demand, businesses are seeing growth inhibited by a lack of room on the grid. For companies based in cities such as Amsterdam and The Hague, connecting to the electricity network is becoming increasingly difficult, and at times, impossible - almost 10,000 companies have had their requests for new electricity connections put on hold.
Not only is the gridlock putting the brakes on businesses’ own clean energy efforts, it could soon see some forced out of cities altogether. With restrictions placed on even the simplest developments, such as connecting a new lift within an office building or installing new charging stations for electric company cars, many companies may soon have no choice but to pack up and head elsewhere.
For European leaders the situation in the Netherlands signifies much more than a cautionary tale. We’re already seeing similar grid constraints emerge across electricity networks in countries including the UK, France and Spain. Left unchecked, these electricity “gridlocks” could soon begin to place restrictions on businesses in much the same way as their Dutch counterparts. Fixing the capacity conundrum must be a priority, to protect economic growth, as well as clean energy progress.
According to experts, work to provide additional grid capacity in the Netherlands is on track to be completed by 2028. But with businesses already facing significant restrictions and grid expansion predicted to cost up to €30 billion, we cannot afford to wait on time-intensive new infrastructure development alone - or businesses, and their employees, will pay the price. Employers’ associations in the country are already warning of a significant decline in business investment and a fall in industrial production due to the gridlock, with companies forced to look outside of the Netherlands to achieve their growth and expansion plans.
We must explore alternative action while we wait for new transmission to optimise existing infrastructure and ease the current gridlock. Emerging technologies, such as AI and machine learning, offer powerful new tools for strengthening the grid and boosting clean energy capacity, without the need for as much costly new transmission to be built. For example, when used alongside digital modelling to perform line rating analysis, these technologies provide enhanced visibility which can identify latent capacity sitting dormant within the grid. By uncovering additional capacity where more renewable energy can be safely run, these tools can empower utilities to expand the use of existing infrastructure and speed up connections to the grid.
As clean energy development gathers pace across Europe, leaders must beware. Failure to prioritise infrastructure alongside renewables generation could lead to countries across the continent being thwarted by the same hurdle that is holding the Netherlands in a bind. We must learn from the Dutch “gridlock” and take action to prevent the same constraints blocking electricity connections and suffocating business development elsewhere, with highly populated and economically active cities such as London, Madrid and Krakow running a particularly high risk. Supporting greater, more efficient grid capacity is key to driving a more sustainable future, while protecting economic growth.