The rapid growth of wind and solar farms in Gelderland and the Flevopolder together generate a large amount of sustainable energy, which demands increasing capacity from the high-voltage grid. Throughout the region, 4800 megawatts of sustainable generation have now been developed or are under preparation. This is comparable to the capacity of six large power plants. This development will lead to bottlenecks in the grid, especially at times when there is a lot of wind and sun and little consumption of electricity in the regions concerned. TenneT will structurally resolve these bottlenecks by means of reinforcements, including the installation of additional transformers and adjustments to the regional high-voltage grid. The expected expansion will take place in phases and is expected to last between three and seven years.
Long-term planning and cooperation are crucial to achieving climate targets
Robert Kuik, TenneT Manager of Grid Planning: "The development of sustainable energy production continues at an unabated pace. All these developments require adjustments to the high-voltage grid and creative solutions to create extra space on the grid. Long-term planning and cooperation between all parties are crucial in order to meet the climate targets, also because expansion and modification of the high-voltage infrastructure takes a long time and the available technical capacity is scarce.
€450 million grid investments
Over the next few years TenneT will continue to invest in the Flevopolder and Gelderland regions in order to increase the capacity of the grid. The grid manager will install additional transformers in Dodewaard, Doetinchem and Lelystad, among other places, in order to better distribute electricity across the grids. In the Flevoland Polder, work is in progress to connect three large new wind farms to the national grid. TenneT is expected to invest 450 million euros in the regions on the way to 2030.
Research into congestion management
When structural bottlenecks occur on the electricity grid, the grid manager also initiates a formal investigation into the possibilities of applying congestion management, based on laws and regulations. This is a method based on the electricity market to create more space on the grid and at the same time prevent overloading of the electricity network.
View the congestion announcement
