Renovation of the electricity grid in Drenthe. Every street opens. ‘It is time for a crisis approach’

The electricity grid in the Netherlands is heavily loaded. Figures from Tennet show that the number of requests for electricity has increased enormously. In 2017, Tennet recorded an increase of 400 Megawatts in customer requests. In 2022 this amounted to just over 44,000 megawatts.

The war in Ukraine followed by an energy crisis increased demand exponentially.

Just about every street in Drenthe will open

There is a demand on the electricity grid that the grid cannot handle. There are no problems yet for households. The problems are already manifest for large consumers, especially companies.

In more and more places, companies are put on a waiting list for connection to the grid; in the Netherlands, 10,000 large consumers are waiting for a connection. In Drenthe there are 250 waiters, 1500 Drenthe companies cannot send the energy they generate themselves to the grid.

In order to meet demand, an immediate solution is for major consumers to make agreements among themselves to use the available power as efficiently as possible. But that is not enough. A major renovation of the electricity grid is inevitable.

“Everyone in Drenthe will notice this in the coming years,” says Annemiek Berends of Tennet. “Almost every street in Drenthe will open in the coming years.”

Quite a number of projects in the pipeline

Two projects are currently in progress in Drenthe, the expansion of the Assen-Zeyerveen high-voltage substation and the expansion of a medium-voltage substation in Beilen. In addition, several projects are in preparation, Tennet hopes to start the construction of the Emmen-Boerdijk high-voltage substation this year. In addition, eleven new or expansion plans are being studied.

The grid operators assume that it takes five to eight years to implement a project. “But,” says Berends, “we see obstacles more often.” This concerns a shortage of manpower and materials. But also litigious local residents who do not like the plans in their neighborhood. “A case before the Council of State can take two years,” says Berends, who is cautiously thinking of a crisis and recovery law that could help accelerate projects in this area.

It is reason for Enexis to no longer deal with voltage problems on a case-by-case basis, Greetje Bronsema makes clear. “If problems occur more often in an area, we no longer visit every report, but we make a plan to provide the issue with a robust solution in one go. The time for sticking plasters is over.”

More and larger transformer houses

Residents will therefore see more transformer houses in their neighborhood. These are often larger than current transformers. And broken up streets. One of every three streets in Drenthe will open. “We expect that we will need 336 kilometers of cable nationally every month until 2050.”

People should take into account that we will be undergoing a renovation in the coming years, says Eddy Veenstra of Rendo. This must quickly become visible in Hoogeveen. Rendo wants to build the Riegmeer undervoltage substation there with Tennet. Its economic and social importance is very great, says Veenstra. “That is why we want to accelerate this project, similar to the rapid manner in which the LNG terminal in Eemshaven was constructed.”

Crisis approach

As far as Veenstra is concerned, the time of sticking to the electricity grid is over. “We should no longer wait for each other, but complement each other. It is gradually time for a crisis approach.”

It is indeed no longer ‘you ask, we deliver’, Bronsema adds. “That also requires behavioral adjustment.”