Grid operators and energy suppliers to work together to tackle congested electrical grids in residential areas

Grid operators and energy suppliers will work with households to address congestion in local electrical grids to ensure a reliable energy supply for the future. Grid operators Liander, Stedin and Enexis have entered into a partnership with Essent, Vattenfall and Eneco. To prevent the electrical grid from becoming overloaded, they will encourage consumers to shift the moments when they use energy to when the grid is less congested.
 

As the electrical grid becomes more and more congested, it is also becoming more important to use the grid efficiently. That is what the new partnership between grid operators and energy suppliers will encourage. The demand for electricity spikes at times, congesting the grid and causing it to become overloaded. This is particularly noticeable during the winter months, when people come home from work. By spreading their electricity consumption over the day, households can help to prevent this.

Using electricity at off-peak times 
The approach is initially concentrated in 21 areas where the electrical grids are incapable of handling the peaks. In total, those areas make up around 35,000 households. Starting in early-July, the suppliers will ask their customers there whether they would like to take part in the project. The basic premise is that participating households should benefit without compromising on their comfort. Examples of how they might benefit include financial compensation for charging their EV at night, or an extra discount on a home battery if they agree to use it at specific times to reduce the load on the electrical grid. The energy suppliers will decide how they will go about reducing electricity consumption at peak moments and what compensation they will offer households.
 

“This partnership is a chance to make a real difference and spread electricity consumption across the day,” comments Liander’s CEO Maarten Otto, speaking on behalf of the participating grid operators. “This is an urgent problem. In some districts, the electrical grid becomes so congested at certain times of day that the current surges. Although operators are working hard to expand their grids, this alone will not be enough. We all need to be more flexible in how we use the grid, so that everyone can rely on having electricity.”

Great potential 
The new partnership offers great potential. A recent pilot with home charging stations for EVs showed that many people are willing to charge their cars at off-peak times. During the pilot, their electricity consumption during the evening peak fell by an average of 68%.

“We’ve already shown that consumers are quite happy to change their behaviour,” says Eneco’s COO Customers Selina Thurer. “This can make a huge difference in the load on the electrical grid. We’ll continue our efforts to give households as much help as possible to do their bit in reducing that load. For example, we’ll offer smart technological solutions and financial incentives. With all our customers together, we can make a real difference.”

In the regions selected by the grid operators, Eneco will offer customers home batteries and smart charging facilities for EVs to encourage them to be more flexible about how they use electricity. The home batteries use smart systems to charge at times with ample green electricity. They then provide part of the electricity that the household uses at peak moments, without adding to the load on the electrical grid. Smart charging for EVs shifts the charging to moments when electricity is most abundant, and therefore costs least. The customers benefit from lower prices, and the load on the electrical grid during the peak is reduced. Eneco will send out information to customers in the selected regions.

Other market operators are also invited to join the project; Zonneplan is one operator that has already accepted.