Grid congestion is no longer a future constraint for Dutch businesses; it’s already limiting growth. With the formal introduction of the group transport agreement (GTO) at the end of 2025, flexibility is increasingly recognised as part of the congestion toolkit [1]. Although this is an important step, it will not automatically make life easier for businesses.
The question is no longer whether flexibility is needed. More relevant is why the current instruments still do not adequately reflect the operational reality of companies that are willing to adapt. On paper, the Netherlands has an increasing number of instruments. What is still lacking are solutions that can be implemented at the scale and speed required by the energy transition.
The next step lies on the regional grid
Flexibility is nothing new in the Dutch energy system. At system level, particularly on the high-voltage grid and in the balancing markets, controllable capacity and aggregation have been in use for some time. But that is not the same as having a workable model for businesses on the regional grid. It is precisely there that a great missed opportunity currently lies.
Logistics companies, supermarket chains and charging infrastructure providers often operate across dozens of medium-sized sites. Their system value does not lie in a single dominant connection, but in the sum of their portfolio. In practice, however, congestion management is still too often organised per connection, per region and per case. As a result, much potential flexibility remains untapped.
From individual connections to controllable portfolios
It is precisely these companies that can spread, smooth or shift load across multiple sites. A supermarket chain with refrigerated stores, a logistics company with several depots, or a charging operator with various stations often has substantial scope for control. What they often lack is a practical way to translate that potential into simple contracts and scalable operating rules.
These segments are not primarily looking to monetise flexibility. Their objective is to use flexibility in one part of the portfolio to unlock room for growth elsewhere. The next phase of congestion management therefore calls for a shift: less focus on individual connections, more on demonstrable system efficiency. Not because the physical boundaries of the grid are changing, but because companies and grid operators can utilise the available capacity more intelligently with better digital control.
Market design is the real challenge
Internationally, this is no longer just a theoretical concept. In Germany, the aggregator Next Kraftwerke demonstrates that distributed assets can already be bundled at scale into a single controllable portfolio [2, 3]. While the German context differs, the principle is clear: distributed assets can be bundled into a single controllable portfolio at scale. Germany’s model is more focused on system balancing, driven by the large concentration of renewable generation in the north and the need to transport power to industrial centres in the south. In the Netherlands, the challenge is broader. In addition to overall system balance, there is a stronger need to manage congestion on regional distribution networks.
In the Netherlands, the main challenge is not the availability of technology, but the way flexibility is organised. While the technical capabilities to unlock flexibility already exist, the current approach remains fragmented and difficult to scale. In practice, this results in:
- Bespoke solutions, tailored to individual cases rather than designed for repeatability
- Limited standardisation, making it difficult to replicate successful approaches across regions or sectors
- Fragmented roles and contract structures, slowing down adoption and increasing complexity
As a result, flexibility remains largely confined to the country’s largest generators and consumers. The next step is to translate capabilities that already work at system level into scalable, standardised solutions for organisations operating portfolios of connections on the regional grid.
From pilots to scalable solutions
The Dutch congestion management approach has rightly focused on enabling flexibility. The challenge for the coming years is to make it workable for small assets on the regional grid. That requires a shift from bespoke solutions and individual connections, towards scalable models built around controllable portfolios. The priority now is to move beyond pilots and start standardising flexibility at scale.
The priority is no longer to test flexibility in isolated pilots, but to embed it in scalable, standardised operating models that work in day-to-day operations. Without that shift, much of the available flexibility will remain theoretical, while grid constraints continue to limit growth.
Sources
[1] https://www.acm.nl/nl/publicaties/codebesluit-groepstransportovereenkomst
[2] https://www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Redaktion/EN/News/2022/20220504-virtual-powerplants.html
[3] https://www.next-kraftwerke.com/knowledge/what-is-a-virtual-power-plant
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