Dutch energy companies and grid operators are teaming up to ask households to use less electricity during peak hours. This scheme, which is already used for businesses, aims to stop the Netherlands’ power grid from overloading.
Homes in Utrecht, Gelderland, and parts of Flevopolder and North Brabant can get paid to help out. Energy companies will use “smart technology” to manage heavy appliances automatically. For example, they might pause electric car charging during busy times and restart it overnight, or draw extra power from household solar batteries when the grid is struggling.
The grid faces the most pressure during winter between 4pm and 9pm, when everyone cooks, heats their homes, and plugs in their cars at the same time. The problem is now so urgent that some areas, like Utrecht, are putting residents on a waiting list if they want a new or stronger power connection for things like heat pumps or electric hobs.
A small trial last year with 35,000 homes proved that people are happy to change their energy habits if it is easy and saves them money. The energy companies now want to expand the scheme to hundreds of thousands of homes. Their immediate goal is to sign up around 60,000 households, which would free up enough electricity to power a whole city the size of Haarlem.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
