The Limburg and Noord Brabant electricity network is operating at full capacity, leaving no room for new commercial customers who either want to buy or supply energy, national grid operator Tennet has said.

Requests for a more extensive contract by existing commercial customers will also be put on hold but private households will not be affected.

The Limburg and Noord Brabant grid is under pressure because of the rapid rise in heat pumps, car charging stations, new companies and increasing use of electricity in industry, climate minister Rob Jetten wrote in a briefing to MPs.

One short term solution being considered is to pay compensation to customers if they agree to limit electricity use at peak times.

‘This is not good news for the companies and institutions in these provinces,’ said Jetten, who will meet operators Tennet, Enexis and the private sector to come to a more permanent solution.

Transition

The provincial authorities and employers’ organisations VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland have called the situation ‘unacceptable’.

‘The lack of capacity is very worrying for companies that are doing their best to become more sustainable. This will have grave consequences for the energy transition and comes just as we want to stop the use of gas,’ a VNO-NCW spokesman told broadcaster NOS.

Danielle van Laarhoven, from local development board Brainport, said electricity provision had been ‘groaning and creaking’ for a while and that she will also soon meet ministers to discuss energy security in the region.

Tennet had warned earlier that the Dutch electricity network should be expanded more quickly and that energy transition goals would not be met because wind farms and solar parks would not be able to access the grid.