Grid congestion in Noord-Brabant: what does it mean for you?

The electricity grid is like a road network. The cables in the street, the distribution substations and the heavier high-voltage connections together have a maximum capacity. As long as there is room, electricity flows simply from A to B. But just as on the motorway, congestion arises when everyone wants to go in the same direction at the same time. We call this grid congestion: at certain moments more electricity wants to flow through the grid than fits.

That pressure runs in two directions. On one side we are drawing more and more power, think of heat pumps, electric cars and homes going off gas. On the other side we are also feeding back more and more, mainly through solar panels that on a sunny day all push power onto the grid at the same time. Both directions load the same grid.

Important to know: grid congestion does not mean the power goes off. Your lights keep shining and your sockets keep working. The point is that the grid operator cannot always deliver or absorb more capacity when you apply for it. New or heavier connections can therefore take longer as a result.

Noord-Brabant is one of the regions where the pressure on the grid is felt most strongly. That has everything to do with the energy transition running here at a rapid pace. From De Peel to De Kempen and from Eindhoven to Breda, there are many solar panels on roofs and large solar farms and wind turbines have been added. On sunny, windy days they produce enormous amounts of power together that all has to go somewhere.

Brabant is also a province with a great deal of economic activity. The industrial estates around the larger cities are growing and upgrading their connections, data centres and industry demand extra capacity, and horticulture is also electrifying. All that demand comes on top of ordinary household consumption, which is only increasing through heat pumps and EV chargers.

The grid operator in virtually all of Noord-Brabant is Enexis. They are working hard on expanding and strengthening the grid: new substations, thicker cables and smarter management. But such expansions take years and many skilled workers, while demand is rising faster than the grid can keep up. As a result Brabant is running up against the limits of the current grid in some places.

For most households nothing changes in day-to-day use. You only notice grid congestion when you want something that requires extra capacity. The clearest example is a heavier connection: if you want to go from a single-phase to a three-phase connection, for example for a heat pump, a fast EV charger or a renovation, the lead time can be longer than you are used to. Where that was arranged quickly in the past, it can now take a while. Exactly how long varies by area and moment, so check the current status and waiting time with Enexis.

A second point is feeding back solar power. In places where the grid is full, an inverter can temporarily throttle back on sunny moments because the grid voltage runs too high. Your panels then feed back a little less for a while. In busy areas conditions are sometimes also placed on new or larger solar installations. It is sensible to look into this in advance if you want to install or expand panels.

The third and perhaps most important consequence is a shift in thinking. Where it was once logical to feed back as much power as possible, it is becoming increasingly valuable to use your own generated power yourself. That relieves the grid and, with the phasing out of net metering, is often also financially more favourable. Self-consumption and storage are becoming the new normal.

You have no influence over the grid, but you do have influence over your own approach. The first tip is: act early. If you are considering a heat pump, an EV charger or a heavier connection within the next few years, apply for it in good time. Because of the waiting times it pays not to wait until the last moment. A certified electrician can prepare your installation and set the application for upgrading with the grid operator in motion.

The second tip is to consume smartly. If you spread your heaviest users across the day as much as possible, you put less pressure on the peak. Charge your car at a quiet moment or when your solar panels are generating at full capacity, and avoid running a heat pump and washing machine all at full load at the same time. Smart charging and dynamic energy contracts help with that automatically.

The third step is storage. A home battery stores your own solar power so you use it in the evening instead of feeding it back onto a full grid. That increases your self-consumption, makes you less dependent on feed-in and fits well in a time when the grid is tight. Whether a battery pays off for you depends on your consumption, your panels and the current subsidy and net-metering rules. Get sound advice on that before you decide.