New Contract Paves the Way for Faster Electricity Connections for Businesses 

With the revised Capacity Management Contract (CSC), grid operators and business organizations are taking an important step toward making better use of the electricity grid. Together, they have been able to remove the main barriers that businesses faced in this congestion management contract.  

Grid congestion is one of the biggest challenges facing the Netherlands. It is currently holding back the economy and the transition to sustainability. It costs our economy about 40 billion euros annually. Expanding and upgrading the power grid is the structural solution to resolving congestion. At the same time, this will take years. That is why flexible use of the power grid is crucial to connecting businesses and (civil society) organizations. This will enable the faster implementation of new or higher-capacity connections.  

Congestion Management as a Key Role

Congestion management plays a key role in making better use of the grid. Grid operators and customers make agreements regarding grid usage during times of high demand on the electricity grid. The grid operator typically gives one day’s notice regarding when and how the customer must adjust their use of the electricity grid—for example, by temporarily stopping or limiting usage, or by increasing it. The customer receives compensation for this. The Capacity Management Contract (CSC) is currently the most important contractual instrument for formalizing these agreements. This helps prevent grid overload and creates capacity on the grid for others.

Entrepreneurial Perspective

Of course, customization remains possible in specific situations. If a customer wishes to include additional terms that deviate from the standard contract, these can always be discussed with the grid operator. The improved contract terms provide a solid and workable starting point for this. 

With these improvements, grid operators and market participants expect that discussions on congestion management will lead more quickly to concrete agreements between businesses and grid operators. This will speed up the signing of contracts and, consequently, the implementation of congestion management, which directly contributes to faster connection for parties that would otherwise remain on the waiting list. 

Response from Energy Storage NL: Further improvements to CSC remain necessary

Standard for Congestion Management

The revised capacity management contract has been published on the Partners in Energy website.   

In the coming period, network operators will be workingand business organizations and market participants will continue to work toward further improvement of and a detailed explanation of the CSC, so that business owners can quickly understand the opportunities it offers.