Long-term insight
We are working together with stakeholders and partners more and more intensively, for example, via the provincial energy boards. Together, we want to obtain a clear picture of the supply of and demand for energy in the long term. We give provinces, municipalities, and market parties insight into the capacity that we have now and can offer locally in the near future. They can then take our possibilities into account in a timely manner during the development of their plans. The earlier that we are informed of the plans, the greater the likelihood that we will also be able to accommodate these.
In the energy boards, there is a clear link with the Provincial Multi-Year Programme Infrastructure, Energy, and Climate (pMIEK), that contains a prioritisation of and plans for expansion investments of regional energy infrastructure.
Provincial Multi-Year Programme Infrastructure, Energy, and Climate.
In 2023, we worked together with provinces and municipalities on a Provincial Multi-Year Programme Infrastructure, Energy, and Climate (pMIEK). For each province, the pMIEK specifies which energy infrastructure projects have the highest priority for society. Together, we examine infrastructural solutions and consequences. In this manner, we help set priorities and assess projects in a broader perspective. At the same time, a pMIEK provides insight into the priorities within the province. This gives us an idea of the workload in the medium-long term (up to 2035).
Two of the five provinces where we are active laid down their priorities in a pMIEK in the first half of 2023. In the other three provinces, we jointly drew up an inventory of the necessary investment projects in the province. This is an important step. Additionally, steps still have to be taken to carry out the work faster, such as speeding up the permit process and securing the necessary land for infrastructure projects.
A (statutory) prioritisation framework is necessary in order to take the priorities in a pMIEK into account in our investment plans. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy established such a prioritisation framework in 2023. With this framework, we give priority in our investment plans to expansion projects that have a large societal impact. We did this in our investment plan for 2024. In 2024, all provinces will formulate their vision on the future energy landscape. As Enexis, we contribute to the formulation of these energy visions.
Programming and prioritizing - Societal prioritisation of grid expansions
Should we expand the grid first for new homes, the solar park around the corner, or the data centre down the road? Until now, requests from customers were leading for building grid infrastructure. The law requires us to handle requests on a first come, first served basis. However, due to the very large demand for electricity this way of working is no longer tenable. We can no longer keep up with the rapidly growing demand for grid capacity for electricity consumption and feeding electricity back into the grid. As a result, not all large-volume customers can be connected to the electricity grid immediately, and this has far-reaching consequences for society and the economy.
As grid operators, we are developing a new way of collaborating, together with the national government, provinces, municipalities, and market parties: programme and prioritise. In a joint planning process, we ensure that the realisation of societal tasks and the development of the energy system are in alignment. Together, we make long-term plans for the energy system and the physical space that is necessary for this (programme) and we make choices to employ the limited human resources and grid capacity efficiently (prioritise). We are also explicitly looking at giving priority to projects with a societal function.
To accelerate implementation
If we want to make a success out of this grand reconstruction of our network, then we need to fundamentally change how we collaborate in the execution. We will also have to speed up the pace. This demands an effort from (and has impact on) all of us: from grid operators, governments, and chain partners to industries, businesses, and households. In November, we presented the National Execution Agenda together with the other regional grid operators. With this execution agenda, we provide perspective on how we can achieve the maximum pace in the transformation of the regional energy system and the reinforcement and expansion of our grids from now until 2035-2040. We take a step forward with this document and provide insight into the approach for this enormous task.
In the execution agenda, we focus on three courses of action: building faster, flexibility, and spatial integration of energy infrastructure. Based on these courses of action, various initiatives have been launched, such as faster processes for granting permits and allocating space. This includes initiatives such as the district approach.
We will improve and fine-tune the execution agenda in the coming period in consultation with other parties. In 2024 we hope to conclude an execution agreement with relevant stakeholders. In doing so, we will try to connect with existing programmes and forms of collaboration, as for instance the National Action Programme Grid Congestion.
National Action Programme Grid Congestion
Under the direction of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the government, ACM, grid operators, and market parties are working together in the National Action Programme Grid Congestion [Landelijk Actieprogramma Netcongestie (LAN)] on grid congestion solutions. The LAN is focusing on building faster, better coordination, and increasing the flexible capacity. The LAN put forth the proposal in 2023 to charge large-volume consumers a lower tariff for the use of the grid at times when the grid is less congested. The LAN is also working on a tool kit for energy hubs to make collaboration in energy hubs easier, lower the developments costs for initiators, and increase affordability. These and other initiatives will reduce the pressure on the energy grid; however, it is still not sufficient to put an end to the growing waiting lists. In 2024, the LAN will be expanded with the Action Agenda Network Congestion Low Voltage Networks.
Reconnaissance of the energy system in 2050
It is still uncertain what the energy system will look like in 2050. Nevertheless, we want to start preparing for this. In order to still be able to take concrete steps, we have, together with other grid operators and parallel to our own activities,- formulated future scenarios for 2050 under the name Integral Infrastructure Reconnaissance 2030-2050 (II3050) and calculated the impact on our grid. Will we be producing energy mainly for ourselves in the Netherlands, or are we dependent on import? Who makes these choices? Local governments or the national government? And will we be heating our country with electricity, green gas, district heating or hydrogen?
We calculated these scenarios together with the other grid operators to see what they means for the energy consumption in the Netherlands and what impact they will have on our energy grids. Important insights came to the fore in these scenarios. For instance, in all scenarios, we have to install a lot of extra electricity cables and new transformers. Large peaks of solar power will put a lot of pressure on grids in the summer; reducing these peaks is desirable. In addition, a lot of flexibility is required, for example, for batteries. At the same time, we have to prevent these batteries from augmenting the peaks on our grids. A lot of work also has to be done on the gas grid to be able to transmit green gas and to make use of hydrogen.
With these insights, we can prepare ourselves as grid operators better for the challenges that we are facing. We will share data, analyses, and insights as much as possible with our environment and coordinate this with national and regional policy programmes. The II3050 study will be reviewed in 2025.
The II3050 study and scenarios are taken into account in our forecasts and investment plans. The government published the National Plan for Energy Systems (NPE) in 2023. The NPE provides insight into the choices that the government wants to make and helps us to determine our strategy within these various scenarios. For instance, the NPE indicates that the government would prefer to make use of green hydrogen for industry and heavy transport and would limit this as much as possible for the built environment. Furthermore, there is a strong emphasis on electricity and continued growth of renewable energy generation (on- and off-shore). The NPE provides confirmation that we are making the right choices now.
Dilemma: Societal prioritisation of customer connections
We are still following the principle of first come, first served (FCFS - as laid down in the Dutch Electricity Code) for the connection of customers. This can lead to undesirable situations in areas with limited transmission capacity. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) published the Draft code decision prioritising capacity transmission requests. With this, the ACM aims to make it possible to give priority to projects that solve or reduce congestion problems when allocating transmission capacity. Projects with a societal function - such as safety services, healthcare or schools - can been given priority. The prioritisation framework can only be applied in a congestion area, when transmission capacity becomes available and we approach customers on the waiting list.
As grid operators, we think it is important that there is clarity regarding the basis on which we can give priority to customers. To this end, clear, transparent, and objective criteria must be formulated. As the draft code decision does not provide these criteria, we submitted a viewpoint in the beginning of October 2023. In this viewpoint, we explicitly indicated that, following a final code decision, we must be given the time to implement this way of prioritisation. It was still unclear at the end of 2023 what the final code will look like and when it will come into effect.