Customers on the waiting list may have to wait 5 to 10 years for transmission capacity to become available. This makes it difficult for companies to grow or to make their operations more sustainable. We want customers to understand how grid congestion affects their situation and to encourage them to adjust their energy use. This allows them to continue developing or becoming more sustainable while creating additional grid capacity. Technology can play an important role in guiding energy users through this process intelligently.
Smarter grid use for a stronger energy grid
The traditional model, in which customers can use their full contracted transmission capacity at any time of day, is no longer sustainable. While the grid becomes overloaded during peak periods, capacity is often still available at other times. That is why we encourage customers to make smarter use of the grid by shifting electricity consumption to quieter periods. This helps to reduce congestion during peak times and is essential for maintaining an affordable and reliable energy system.
Different behaviour from business customers
‘My grid is your grid’ campaign
In 2024, we launched the corporate campaign ‘My grid is your grid’. The campaign emphasises that the electricity grid is a shared resource and that everyone can contribute to solutions for grid congestion. In 2025, we continued the campaign with a stronger focus on practical action: what can customers do themselves? For example, they can shift part of their production to night-time hours or charge their electric vehicle fleets overnight. This allows them to stay within their contracted capacity and avoid the need for additional grid capacity. Customers can also generate their own electricity and temporarily store it for later use. Our magazine, Samen op het net (‘Together on the grid’), features practical tips and inspiring examples of customers who explain how they manage their energy consumption.
Enexis Ecosystem
We launched the Enexis Ecosystem to connect customers with knowledgeable and reliable advisors. These advisors help companies gain insight into their energy consumption and offer tools and guidance on grid-aware energy use. They support businesses in exploring how they can achieve their growth or sustainability ambitions without requiring additional grid capacity. This helps customers find viable solutions despite congestion. An increasing number of market parties are now able to provide high-quality advice. By bringing these parties together within our ecosystem, we can collectively reach and support more customers.
Encouraging behavioural change among low-volume consumers
We also encourage households and small businesses to use energy in a more grid-aware way:
-
The ‘Full of Energy’ campaign continued in 2025. Its aim is to raise customer awareness of the pressures on the electricity grid and show how they can contribute to solutions.
-
One example is encouraging customers to adjust their behaviour when charging electric vehicles. Grid-aware charging helps prevent peak loads. The government’s campaign to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours also supports this objective.
-
On sunny days, the electricity grid can become overloaded due to high levels of solar generation. The Zonnedimmer platform makes it possible to temporarily ‘dim’ solar panels at such times, reducing the amount of electricity fed into the grid. Participants receive compensation for each kilowatt-hour curtailed. In spring 2025, we ran a successful pilot with 500 households. We are now exploring whether Zonnedimmer can be rolled out at scale.
-
In 2025, we also launched Buurtnet pilots in 10 Dutch neighbourhoods. This app provides residents with insights into peak electricity grid usage and advises them on the most suitable times to use energy. For example, if it is sunny at 1 p.m., the app may suggest running a washing machine then. Wider availability of the app is expected in 2026, starting in neighbourhoods where the grid is under the greatest pressure.