Congestion management
The Dutch electricity grid more frequently faces a lack of transmission capacity, causing the grid to get overloaded at peak usage times.
The need for congestion management
Whenever such peak usage occurs, the grid gets congested. To prevent congestion, companies are asked to avoid peak hours and temporarily feed in or consume less power. This is what we call ‘congestion management’. One part of tackling grid congestion is to expand and upgrade the power grid, which is exactly what grid operators (distribution system operators, or DSOs) will be doing over the coming years. In addition, flexibility will become a permanent feature of how we use our power grid in the future.
Grid operators are under an obligation to engage in congestion management to reduce or completely clear congestion, so as to secure the supply of power to companies and consumers across the Netherlands. Congestion management is used at busy periods to spread out the load over the grid and prevent the power grid from getting overloaded. Congestion management is made up of various phases; the busier it gets on the grid, the more drastic the measures that grid operators have to take.
Your flexibility makes all the difference
The increasing congestion on the grid has led more and more wholesale consumers to enter into agreements with their grid operator on the flexible use of their capacity.This is a necessity if we want to better utilise the current and future power grid, partly because we are consuming ever more electricity and partly because we are increasingly using power from renewable sources such as solar and wind power.
Download the infographic showing all the congestion management phases here.
Here’s how congestion management works
Congestion management is used more and more to spread out peak load across the power grid and prevent the grid from becoming overloaded. This allows grid operators to connect more capacity to the power grid than it can physically handle.
You decide how to take part
You can help manage grid congestion through a Congestion Service Provider (CSP) or directly with your grid operator.
Take part now
Congestion management is possible only when there is sufficient supply of flexible capacity in a certain area. If you have flexible capacity and agree to make it available, you will receive a fee. After all, you would be doing society a great service by helping to relieve the congestion on the power grid. To find out if you have flexible capacity, fill in the congestion form.