The network operator Tennet has closed the network to new companies in Limburg and Noord-Brabant. And it does not fall in taste in the southern part of the country. “A sledgehammer for everything we find important in the Netherlands. Sustainability, energy transition, industry, you name it”, says John Jorritsma, President of the economic development company Brainport Foundation.
According to Jorritsma, from a national perspective, it is the sand in our country’s economic engine. He talks about a task that needs to be solved at the national level. “In the coming years, tens of thousands of jobs will be created in Brainport in the innovative sector. We already have a shortage of houses, roads, bike paths, facilities and business parks in the city and region. And today there is also the official announcement that the energy supply is also at stake. ”
Input capacity card for mains
Check out this map of the industry organization of network operators Netbeheer Nederland to see the current status of purchasing and supplying electricity minus the Netherlands.
European super network
Network congestion is also an urgent problem in Europe. The EU is considering a European Supernet (ESG) to properly address the sharp increase in demand for electricity and sustainable energy production. It was to connect European countries with each other and North Africa and the Middle East.
The idea behind an ESG is to share electricity. This should provide a solution to one of the main weaknesses of renewable energy sources: instability. The sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. Using this network, the energy surplus in one country can be shared with countries that at that time produce too little.
Supply your own power
There are other options as well. For example, companies with a surplus of produced energy can supply it directly to their neighbors without first supplying it back to the grid. VDL would like that.
VDL wants to be an example of making business premises more sustainable
Network operator Enexis warned at the beginning of last month that part of Southeast Brabant is turning ‘yellow’ on the electricity purchase card. VDL will help to solve this problem by supplying the energy produced to the neighbors itself.
But there are laws and practical objections that stand in the way. The power supply is reserved for recognized electricity suppliers. It’s not you as an individual or a company. In addition, this may vary from country to country. The Belgians can do that.
Solar Magazine – Flanders: Citizens can share power from solar panels with neighbors or family from 2022
Flemish people who generate electricity with solar panels, but who do not all use them at the time, can share this electricity with family, friends or neighbors from 2022 for free or at a price of their choice.
Six possible solutions
Solutions are therefore not yet obvious. But they are there.
1) The salt battery
The salt battery that pulls a family through the sunny and windless periods
As a company, Cellcius BV has only existed for a few months. But the people behind this spin-off from TNO and TU Eindhoven have worked much longer.
2) Create your own flow
Due to congested grid, more and more entrepreneurs are choosing their own electricity
The demand for electricity is growing explosively thanks to the energy transition. The supply of sustainable energy is also rising sharply. In many places in the Netherlands, there is too little space on the grid to transport all the electricity. More and more entrepreneurs are choosing to become self-sufficient by generating their own energy.
3) Peaks and valleys
Coping with peaks and troughs in green electricity production can be made much smarter
The Netherlands is not a leader in Europe in the production of green electricity. Nevertheless, the share of wind and solar energy is rising sharply. But it goes with peaks and troughs
4) New network
The energy conversion requires a new type of electricity grid
We all want to get rid of oil, coal, gas and nuclear energy in Europe. It has been agreed that at least 80 percent of the energy produced must be sustainable by 2050.
5) Two-way traffic
‘Vehicle-to-grid’: New initiatives around two-way charging of electric cars
An electric car that not only has to charge itself continuously, but which can also supply its own power, if that is the case.
6) Mobile power
And if there is no solution at all, you can still rent a generator.
Mobile electricity also supplies clean energy to remote locations
There are times when you suddenly need a lot of energy. On a ship, or on a construction site. Or if you do not get connected. Then this is a solution