1,000 households in Zeeland province shift electricity consumption to sunny hours to lower the peak demand

A thousand households on the Dutch municipalities of Walcheren, Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen are load-shifting: successfully changing their electricity consumption to times with plenty of solar power. In a joint trial set up by grid operator Stedin and energy companies DELTA Energie and Eneco, participants were asked to make minor changes in their behaviour. The result was an unmistakable reduction in the peak load: 0.24 kW per household per test moment. With this success in mind, the companies are looking to double this achievement in the same region in the summer of 2026 to a total of 0.5 MW, a volume comparable to the electricity used by five hundred households.
 

Many of the households in the test area have solar panels, and on sunny days more solar power is produced than is used. At peak times, 50% of the electricity is produced by consumers’ solar panels, which significantly aggravates the congestion that plagues producers feeding electricity into the grid in Zeeland province. Part of this problem can be solved by using power as soon as the sun is out. This is why Stedin, Eneco and DELTA Energie conducted this trial to learn to whether customers would be willing, for a financial reward, to shift their electricity consumption patterns and so better balance local supply and demand. The trial ran from 1 May to 31 July, and consisted of twenty test moments lasting from 1 to 5 hours. Everyone – including households without solar panels, an electric vehicle or home battery – could take part. 

The most relevant results of the trial are:

• · A 0.24-kW peak reduction was achieved per household per test moment

• · Consumers shifted part of their electricity consumption to the afternoons

• · The effects were most noticeable during the first hour and a half of each test moment

• · The impact was greatest during the weekends, when the participants could plan when to use their devices and appliances

• · Households with electric vehicles had four times more impact during the trial

• · Washing machines and dishwashers were most frequently used for load-shifting

• · The participants were enthusiastic

“This trial is helping to solve grid congestion, and it shows that consumers can do their bit,” comments Stedin CTO Timo Idema. “It makes a difference at what times you use electricity. The load-shifting did not lead to more overall energy consumption; instead, the consumption was spread more evenly. Load-shifting will help to keep the electrical grid balanced and optimise the use of locally produced solar power.”
 

Participants’ changing behaviour 
For the trial, Eneco rewarded the participants with a discount on their electricity rates at busy times. DELTA Energie paid participants according to the overall number of kilowatt hours shifted. Both strategies achieved a visible change in the participants’ behaviour, and the participants remained enthusiastic and engaged. With the results proving the trial’s success, Stedin, DELTA Energie and Eneco are studying the possibilities for a follow-up with a larger group of participants.

DELTA Energie CEO Bram Drewes comments, “A large group of DELTA Energie’s customers took part in this trial, and I visited some of them in person. From talking to them, I learned that everyone has their own way of load-shifting, because of course every household is different. This kind of trial makes people think about when they use electricity. In this trial we paid the participants; in 2027 the net metering scheme will be abolished and that will give consumers with solar panels an incentive to use electricity when the sun’s out. Immediate self-consumption will be cheapest. In other words, solar panel owners will be forced to optimise their electricity consumption patterns to keep their energy affordable. This story has two sides, though, and the good news is that the electrical grid will be spared.”

“It’s essential for the electrical grid that we rethink how we use electricity,” adds Eneco’s B2C director Sandra van Maarseveen, “and our participants in Zeeland have demonstrated that this can make a big difference even without drastic changes. The customers who took part in the trial were extremely motivated to change their consumption. We believe that this change in behaviour should be rewarded, to benefit both society and our customers. Besides this trial, Eneco also encourages a much broader shift in consumption patterns, including with specific types of contracts.”