Municipalities of the Netherlands: tackling grid congestion? Start where it hurts.
Holland Solar, NedZero and Energy Storage NL:
“Design new residential neighborhoods and business parks directly with solar, wind and storage so that electricity is generated, stored and used on site, and the pressure on the grid is reduced.”
Include local energy in spatial choices
Part of the solution lies precisely where the demand for power is growing. New residential areas, business parks and industrial areas should be designed with solar, wind and storage from the beginning. Not build first and only later see how the energy supply fits, but incorporate energy directly into the design.
Grid congestion requires a different approach
Grid congestion shows that the energy system is increasingly gridlocked. By bringing generation, storage and use closer together, the pressure on the power grid decreases. Local renewable energy helps meet peaks in electricity demand and enable new developments.
For municipalities, a clear choice lies here. Those who build without including local energy in their design shift the problem to the grid operator, but solve nothing. Those who combine functions work on a stronger energy system and give businesses and residents more security. And adding storage when designing a new housing development can reduce overall power needs, leaving more room for other municipal projects.
Homegrown energy
Local renewable generation is not only a climate measure, but also a prerequisite for economic development. Municipalities that want to build affordable housing, a strong economy and future-proof business should see solar, wind and storage as an integral part of area development.
The same is true for business owners. Companies that buy a lot of electricity are vulnerable to high and fluctuating energy prices on the fossil energy markets. By generating your own electricity, you increase your independence and work on price stability, making your own company more resilient. Governments can therefore ask this question more sharply: how do we bring generation, storage and consumption together more effectively at the local level?
Combine techniques, make better use of space
Existing and new sites can be designed more often as hybrid energy areas, where wind, solar and batteries come together. Adding storage to solar farms or combining solar and batteries at existing wind sites makes better use of space and makes the energy system more flexible.
Call to municipalities and state
The Netherlands faces a major spatial task to have sufficient space available for onshore wind, onshore solar and energy storage by 2040. This requires choices at the local level now.
In the run-up to the municipal elections, we call on municipalities to view grid congestion not only as a grid problem, but also as a spatial design issue. At the same time, national action is needed; clear legislation and quicker licensing to make local combinations of generation, storage and use possible, especially in business parks and industrial areas. More clarity is also needed quickly on the framework for batteries in new and existing solar and wind projects.
Those who start where the rub will discover that solar, wind and storage together are an important part of the solution.
