Cabinet Unveils Emergency Legislation to Address Network Congestion

On September 11, the cabinet presented a package of emergency legislative measures to address grid congestion. The measures are intended to ensure that existing capacity on the power grid is used more efficiently and that new energy infrastructure is built more quickly.

Given the urgency of the situation, the cabinet has opted for an approach similar to that of the former Crisis and Recovery Act. It will not wait for a single new law, but will implement the necessary changes to laws and regulations as soon as they are ready. The package presented is therefore a starting point; new challenges may lead to additional measures later on.

The letter to Parliament identifies three tracks: Faster Construction, aimed at streamlining procedures for grid expansions; Environmental Policy Guidance, in which energy is systematically factored into land-use decision-making; and Better Utilization of the Grid, aimed at more efficient use of existing infrastructure. The last track is particularly relevant to the energy storage sector, as flexibility is presented therein as an essential component of the future energy system. The measures within this track are explained below.

Standardizing Flexibility

The government emphasizes that the grid is not always at full capacity everywhere. By shifting peak demand to quieter times and, under certain conditions, placing a heavier load on existing infrastructure, additional capacity can be made available in the short term. Laws and regulations that hinder these solutions will be amended.

According to the letter to Parliament, flexible and conscious grid use should become more common among parties that are capable of doing so. The government therefore aims to remove barriers that prevent specific types of customers from being offered exclusively flexible transmission capacity, rather than fixed capacity that is always available. In addition, companies must periodically conduct a “flex scan” to identify opportunities for flexible electricity use within their own organizations. For large electricity consumers, such a scan may become mandatory if it proves necessary and effective.

Placing a Greater Burden on Existing Infrastructure

A second option is to place a heavier load on the existing infrastructure. The government intends to use a portion of the capacity currently reserved for outages, under specific conditions, to connect new parties. When this reserve capacity is needed, the transmission capacity of these parties will be limited. In the event of broader deployment, the societal benefits will be weighed against the risks to security of supply, the likelihood of outages, and the implementation of grid expansions.

Better insight into grid capacity and flexibility

Better information on grid load is also needed. This will enable businesses and civil society organizations to better align their energy consumption, investments, and expansion plans with available grid capacity and to make agreements regarding the flexible use of their connections. Local governments will gain greater insight into where and when flexibility is needed, allowing them to take this into account when making land-use decisions and to better support grid operators.

Grid-Conscious New Construction and Additional Prerequisites

The government is also working on laws and regulations for grid-conscious new construction, whereby new homes and neighborhoods are designed to use the grid more intelligently and place less strain on it. Other prerequisites include removing barriers to temporary adjustable capacity, potentially providing legal safeguards for gas-fired installations in locations where decommissioning would exacerbate congestion, and establishing conditions to manage the grid impact of data centers.

Implementation and Timeline

The Cabinet will continue to develop the measures in the coming months and will inform the House of Representatives of the timeline before the end of 2026. For some of the legislative changes, the consultation process must begin in the first half of 2027, with the changes scheduled to take effect in 2028. The details will be worked out with the partners within the National Action Program on Network Congestion.

Importance for Energy Storage

The emphasis on flexibility in the letter to Parliament aligns well with the update to the National Energy System Plan, the Energy Storage Policy Agenda, and the Battery Storage Action Agenda, all of which identify energy storage as an important form of flexibility. ESNL therefore sees opportunities to explicitly incorporate the role of energy storage into the further development of this legislative approach.

Read the full letter to Parliament on emergency legislation to address network congestion here