ESNL indicates progress on grid management and flexibility products Q2 2026

With the recent publication of the progress dashboard, administrative agreements and improvement plans, ACM provides insight into how grid operators are working to enable flexible grid use. Energy Storage NL has reviewed these documents and highlights the main points for its members. Although progress is visible in several areas, practice shows that there are still differences between policy, implementation and the experiences of market parties. In this message, ESNL provides its view on the dashboard and explains the role the association plays in driving further improvements, in close cooperation with grid operators, regulator and ministry.

Progress dashboard requires additional interpretation

The dashboard shows the status of several products as ready, under development or delayed. ESNL comments on some measures marked as ready. Also missing, according to ESNL, are some important issues relevant to the deployment of flexibility.

CSC: The revamped CSC contracts are an important step, but it remains to be seen to what extent they are already well applicable in practice for storage projects. ESNL contributed extensively to the co-creation sessions for version 2.0 of the CSC. At the same time, some important bottlenecks for storage parties have not yet been adopted by grid operators. In the meantime, commitments have been made that an appropriate solution will be found for these in the short term. Based on that confidence, ESNL will also soon participate in an initiative to bring CSCs to wider attention in the market.

Congestion Mitigators: In practice, members still experience bottlenecks with projects that contribute to congestion relief. ESNL receives signals that such projects are being rejected despite their potential contribution to reducing grid congestion. Together with Holland Solar and NedZero, ESNL has drafted a paper on this and shared it with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate and ACM for information. Grid operators have agreed to discuss and resolve these bottlenecks with ESNL as soon as possible.

TDTR: For TDTR, the rollout of the contract form is well advanced. At the same time, there still seems to be a gap between the availability of the contract form and its actual operational application in systems.

It is also notable that full grid insight at regional grid operators is not expected until Q2 2029. This insight is an important prerequisite for the effective application of flexibility products.

ESNL also notes that some topics seen as important by network operators are not reflected, or not adequately reflected, in the improvement plans. These include the code amendment proposal Transport Limit Values. This proposal is essential for contracting flexibility, but is not explicitly mentioned in the plans as a precondition. Network operators are also working on a new version of the Bidding Obligation Contract (BPC), using a co-creation approach similar to that of the CSC. In doing so, network operators have clarified that the BPC is not required for regular queue customers.

Finger on the pulse

The first deadlines are already expiring within a month. Therefore, the next update should reveal which parts are actually on track and where delays are occurring. ESNL will continue to monitor the ACM updates to the dashboard and share its findings with members. Signals from practice that deviate from what grid operators report remain welcome. ESNL can then include these points in consultations with grid operators and other stakeholders.

Administrative agreements between grid operators and ACM

The commitments are laid down in agreements between the network operators and ACM. This commits the management boards of the network operators to the commitments made. The agreements state that the plans must be both maximally ambitious and achievable. Some concrete commitments are:

• VVTR is not yet available everywhere. Network operators must provide suitable alternatives for this.
• Customers will be informed semi-annually by their grid operator about the residual space to be given away resulting from the alignment between grid operators. The first meeting will take place in July 2026.