In an in-depth article today, the Financieele Dagblad discusses how Gelderland is taking the lead in tackling the shortage of electricity connections. This is being done at the National Expertise Centre for Grid Congestion, which is based at Lifeport in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region and develops solutions for the whole of the Netherlands.
According to the newspaper, one-fifth of all Dutch businesses awaiting a power connection are located in the province. That is why Gelderland is pooling all relevant expertise within the National Expertise Centre for Grid Congestion, which opened in May. The centre is part of Connectr-Energy Innovation and is based at the Cleantech Park in Arnhem.
This centre is not only focused on making energy more sustainable, but also on the social and economic consequences of the connection shortage: entrepreneurs are hitting limits, are unable to invest, and sustainable initiatives cannot move forward.
Expert tables
The article provides a detailed account of the centre’s working methods. At expert roundtables, various stakeholders work together to find solutions within this complex landscape. Grid operators, public authorities, businesses and research institutions discuss a wide range of challenges with one another in order to arrive at joint solutions.
These range from permit procedures that take too long to the consolidation of connections in business parks. And might entrepreneurs who generate their own electricity and feed it into the grid be able to move up the waiting list?
National knowledge centre
Fennet van de Wetering, director of the knowledge centre, explains in the article: 'Indeed, a lot is already happening, but the national action programme is aimed at 2035, and we need to do something now. Knowledge centres are numerous, including from VNO-NCW; bizarre as many as these are. Network operators have call centres, but they lack the necessary substantive expertise. We add that. We also speak the language of entrepreneurs. They can come to us for problems they can't get solved. We bring together innovations from across the country, test them and scale them up. That way we avoid fragmentation, and work together for space on the grid.'
Taking action yourself
Helga Witjes, deputy of Gelderland province and member of The Economic Board Arnhem Nijmegen tells the newspaper: 'We could also have said: we do nothing and wait until we get money from The Hague. But we are not like that. We want to take action now, because we suffer a lot from grid congestion. And because we are knowledgeable and also see opportunities and solutions from which not only Gelderland companies can benefit, but also the rest of the Netherlands.'
Lifeport Arnhem Nijmegen Region
The Arnhem-Nijmegen region is the Netherlands’ leading electricity region; with organisations such as Connectr and the National Expertise Centre for Grid Congestion, this is structurally embedded, thereby increasing national impact, policy scope and public-private investment.
Read the full article in the Financieele Dagblad
