Press release: Partnership will help accelerate energy transition and tackle grid congestion
Amsterdam, 4 November 2024 – Dutch national financing and development institution Invest-NL and law firm Kennedy Van der Laan have developed a toolkit to make it easier and cheaper for companies to set up energy hubs. Through these hubs, companies can collaborate in their sustainability efforts and share scarce grid capacity, allowing for more efficient use of the congested electricity grid.
Grid congestion is a major problem for both economic growth and the energy transition, putting it high on the political agenda. Grid capacity cannot keep pace with the energy transition, partly because companies are rapidly investing in sustainability through the electrification of processes and logistics, and solar-power generation. Via the energy hubs, however, a group of companies can make agreements with the grid operator about the smarter use of available capacity. Companies within the hub coordinate their energy use and electricity production and, as a group, offer flexibility at peak times, so contributing to reducing grid congestion.
Legal toolkit as aid
The legal templates that have now been made available for the first time by Invest-NL and Kennedy Van der Laan, in cooperation with N/P Notarial Partners, enables companies with a shortage or surplus of grid capacity to set up an energy hub. The toolkit offers companies legal tools to make mutual agreements – when signing a group contract with the grid operator – to jointly use and invest in sustainability, e.g. energy storage. Financing for such investments is often too costly for a single company but can be possible through a collective.
Companies can download the free toolkit via Invest-NL’s website.
Oene Venema, energy transition expert at Bedrijventerreinaanpak.nl: “Real-life examples and templates for contracts are of great importance for business parks as legal knowledge is often lacking. During various pilots of Dutch utility company Liander, we have, with support from Invest-NL, successfully used the draft version of the legal toolkit. This toolkit supports business parks in implementing technical innovations and so accelerates the energy transition.”
Scaling up energy hubs
The government wants to expand the electricity network together with the grid operators via the National Grid Congestion Action Programme (‘LAN’), and use existing capacity in a smarter way – for example through energy hubs. There are already several operational energy hubs in the Netherlands, including in the Port of Amsterdam. There, Liander and a group of companies led by the Port of Amsterdam made agreements earlier this year about how they can share power surpluses and shortages with each other. Liander started with the small-scale rollout of group contracts earlier this year, and they expect to scale this up next year.
André Simonse, business owner energy hubs at Alliander: “Alliander welcomes these legal toolkits, as we need them to secure mutual agreements between companies. A national knowledge platform will be available across the sector at the end of this year, to which such toolkits, documents and services from market parties will be linked for each step of the process, from initiation to realisation. A valuable addition.”
Accelerate the energy transition
Invest-NL wants to accelerate the energy transition by removing financing bottlenecks. Diederik Apotheker, theme lead electrification at Invest-NL, emphasises the importance of the legal toolkit: “Businesses account for half of CO2 emissions from the built environment, but making business parks more sustainable stalls due to a lack of grid capacity. To accelerate the energy transition, we must make smarter use of the existing infrastructure. We saw an opportunity to offer a concrete solution to companies that want to collaborate by developing this legal toolkit.”
Astrid Sixma, partner IT and Energy Transition at Kennedy Van der Laan: “In recent years, we have supported frontrunners SADC and the Port of Amsterdam in setting up energy hubs and entering group contracts with Liander. By making this legal toolkit available, we can now share our expertise with future energy hubs. We are happy to contribute to creating practical tools for the urgent problem of grid congestion and, in a broad sense, to innovative solutions that can stimulate the energy transition.”
More information about the energy hubs legal toolbox can be found on the Invest-NL website.
About Invest-NL: Invest-NL is the National Financing and Development Institution. As a leading impact investor, our mission is to provide financing to companies and innovations that contribute to a sustainable and innovative Netherlands, and that do not yet have sufficient access to existing financing options. We work together with various stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, other financiers and investors and development specialists from both the public and private sectors. We focus on the transition to a sustainable and circular economy, promoting affordable and accessible healthcare and stimulating technological innovations with the Deep Tech Fund.
Press contact Kennedy Van der Laan: Stampa • Heleen de Graaf: heleen@stampacommunications.com • +31 6 229 582 54
Press contact Invest-NL • Sanne Snieder: pers@invest-nl.nl • +31 6 111 551 31
