Questions about grid congestion and the impact on connections in Flanders
Do you have any questions about grid congestion and the potential impact on connections to the local transport (30-70kV) and distribution network? Would you like to see whom to contact with these questions?
Why is there grid congestion?
The energy transition is in full swing. This transition reduces fossil fuel consumption and replaces it with alternative applications which are powered by electricity. For example, private individuals are increasingly using heat pumps to keep their homes warm and are switching to electric vehicles (EVs). Industry in particular is switching, where possible, to electricity instead of gas or oil for their production processes. For example, (fast-)charging stations for EVs are being installed on industrial sites, and the number of e-boilers is growing. In addition, recent technologies such as data centres and industrial batteries are increasing the pressure on the electricity grid.
The electrification of our society and industry is translating into more requests from companies and project developers for new connections or upgrades of existing connections to the electricity grid. Although system operators have been taking these developments into account for several years now and have adjusted their investment plans accordingly, the number of requests has increased so sharply in so little time that local congestion may occur in some parts of Flanders.
What is (local) grid congestion?
This grid congestion, or grid saturation, could be considered as the electricity grid's equivalent of a traffic jam. Local grid congestion can happen if all businesses use the capacity allocated to them at the same time. This means that not all demand for particularly power-intensive connections to the distribution grid or Elia’s Flemish grid (30-70kV) can be met immediately. If system operators don't take any action and the social backdrop to the situation doesn't change, there could be a rapid rise in the number of high-voltage lines and transformer substations experiencing grid congestion.
It's up to the system operators to ensure a stable and secure electricity grid. Given that it takes time to upgrade transformer substations, the high-voltage grid and distribution systems, Elia and Fluvius have developed a joint action plan for industry so that businesses can continue their economic growth pending a permanent solution. In this way we can reduce the 'traffic jams' on the electricity grid.
Action plan to avoid grid congestion
The action plan encompasses a series of technical measures, covering both the short and the long term. Short-term measures are needed to meet the business community's current requirements as fully as possible, to optimally map out the problem and, above all, to focus on flexibility. In the longer term, the electricity system will have to be completely overhauled to deal with a high level of electrification: a process which will require investments in the physical grids.
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More flexibility on the grid
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Investing in the grids of tomorrow
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energieGRIP: a way to detect needs faster
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Need for a clear policy framework
The following measures are intended to fully meet the business community's requirements in the short term:
- 'Fallback flex' on the distribution system: In anticipation of the flexible connection contract (see below), companies that are in a congestion zone can join a local flexibility market from this spring. In this way, they ensure that the additional power can be admitted into the zone.
This market flexibility application was recently developed by Fluvius. The public consultation for this application has been completed. It is now up to the Vlaamse Nutsregulator, i.e. the Flemish utility regulator, to approve or reject this principle.
In any case, 'fallback flex' offers a temporary solution to the current business requirements on the table at Fluvius. This will help ensure that Flemish businesses can continue with their electrification in the months and years ahead. A short-term solution is also currently being developed for Elia's Flemish grid (30–70 kV) which will allow companies to make flexible connections.
- A flexible connection contract to the distribution system and Elia's Flemish grid (30–70 kV): Businesses' electricity consumption is highly dependent on the specific business processes involved. A company doesn't always need the full capacity provided by its connection. It is often possible to switch flexibly between electricity (e.g. e-boilers) and other energy sources (such as gas or combined heat and power generation, or 'cogeneration').
With a flexible connection, the business's consumption can be adjusted to the available capacity at that moment via modulation. This will mean that more businesses can be allowed to connect to the grid. This principle is already in place for the Elia high-voltage grid (from 110 kV) but should also be possible on the Flemish distribution system and Elia's Flemish grid (30–70 kV). The Flemish government is working on the regulatory framework in this regard, in line with the European EMD5 directive on this matter. Once available, the grid operators can offer the flexible connection contracts.
- Allowing more capacity on the high-voltage grid: Elia is currently investigating how the transformer substations between the Elia high-voltage grid and the Fluvius distribution system can be managed in such a way that they can temporarily and safely exceed their current limits. This will allow them to carry more of a power load, meaning that we can maximise their potential.
- Precautions for the operation of the distribution system: This will spread the 'pressure' on the electricity grid over more transformer substations by redistributing the load between the transformer substations. This creates a little more scope when additional power is required. However, this principle can have an impact on voltage quality, and so due care and consideration are required when it comes to using it.
In recent years, much attention has been paid to upgrading our grids, and investments in transformer substations, the high-voltage grid and the distribution system have been stepped up. This decade alone, Elia and Fluvius have already invested €4.8 billion and €11 billion respectively in the high-voltage grid and distribution systems in Flanders. Fluvius will present the latest version of its Investment Plan for the distribution systems in early June 2025. Elia is doing the same for its regional development plan for Flanders in summer 2025.
This acceleration will continue in the years ahead, but there are limits here in terms of affordability and feasibility. Such projects require a great deal of investment and time. For large-scale projects, securing the necessary permits is a very time-consuming process.
The shortage of equipment on the market is another factor causing delays. In Belgium's neighbouring countries too, electrification is in full swing, and a lot is being invested in the grid, putting even more pressure on the market. This is affecting the availability of materials, increasing the cost of investments and how long they take.
As well as the technical action plan, relations with the business community must be further consolidated in order to gain a quicker insight into how medium-sized and large Flemish businesses view their specific energy transition plans. The predictability of industrial electrification poses a further challenge. Despite major investments in the Flemish electricity grid, system operators can't forecast exactly which company will submit a connection at what time, at which location and for which application.
Last year, a pilot project called 'energieGRIP' bringing together Elia, Fluxys and Fluvius was already tested out in the municipalities of Bornem and Puurs-Sint-Amands. The partners involved will be further expanding the project in 2025 and setting up a joint team of experts, who will proactively consult with the largest Flemish businesses connected to the distribution network in the year ahead to clearly map out these companies' energy requirements.
Want to find out more about this initiative?
As well as all the initiatives planned by Fluvius and Elia themselves, some starker choices affecting society will need to be made when it comes to access to the electricity grid in the years ahead. Currently, system operators are legally obliged to apply the 'first come, first served' principle: whoever is first to submit an application that is acceptable from a technical perspective will be assigned the requested capacity on the electricity grid.
Elia and Fluvius are in consultation with the Flemish government to think together about how we should deal with this in Flanders, in order to achieve an optimal spatial location of data centres, battery parks and other heavy-duty connections in the Flemish electricity system.
The overview below provides information on whom to contact with any questions
If your connection is to the low- or medium-voltage grid in Brussels or Wallonia, please contact your local distribution system operator.
Where can you go for a new connection or an upgrade?
I'm already connected to the electricity grid
- If you're connected to the low- or medium-voltage grid (less than 25 MVA), please contact your Fluvius Account Manager or visit theirpage about connections (in Dutch) for more information.
- If you're connected to the high-voltage grid (more than 25 MVA), please contact your Elia Key Account Manager or visitour website for more information. You'll finda list of our Key Account Managers here.
I'm not yet connected to the electricity grid
- If your connection request relates to the low- or medium-voltage grid (less than 25 MVA), you should visit the Fluvius page about connections (in Dutch) for more information.
- If your connection request relates to the high-voltage grid (more than 25 MVA), please check out theElia website for more information and contact us via this form.
FAQs
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What is grid congestion?
Each grid element such as a line, cable or transformer has a certain capacity. This means that such a grid element can handle a certain amount of current (expressed in MVA). A cable or line has therefore limited power.
If someone wants to connect to the grid, they must request this from the transmission system operator (for large industrial customers) or distribution system operator (for smaller industrial customers). This can be someone who produces electricity and therefore injects it into the grid, someone who needs power and therefore takes it from the grid, or both (e.g. storage).
It is the task of the grid operator to calculate whether there is sufficient capacity on the grid to allow all power to flow effectively at any time and through any grid element.
When this cannot be guaranteed at all times, we speak of grid congestion on a line, cable or transformer station. Grid congestion therefore occurs when there is a risk that more power will flow through a grid element than the technically available capacity on that grid element. So, it can be compared to traffic jams of cars on a highway. Grid congestion is a local phenomenon that can occur at certain times.
Grid congestion has nothing to do with security of supply and whether there is enough electricity available to cover the demand for electricity at any given time.
Grid congestion occurs locally and briefly.
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Where does grid congestion occur in Flanders?
The problem currently occurs mainly at connection posts, but also on so-called overhead lines. The connection posts are transformers that make the connection between the high-voltage grid (Elia) and the medium-voltage grid (Fluvius).
At the moment in Flanders, we see that in 16 of the 235 connection points, the capacity on those transformers hits its limits when a new request is permanently added to the peak load that is currently being observed at the transformer substation. The blue dots on the map at the bottom show the 16 link points.
In addition, there are also a number of overhead lines that are almost saturated. Because these lines feed multiple coupling points, they have an influence on a wider area. In these specific places, additional business connections can no longer be permitted in the 'traditional' way. The action plan offers solutions for these applications.
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Does a customer experience any major disadvantages from having a flexible connection like this?
Companies that electrify today do not do this in one big step and also use other energy sources such as gas within their business processes.
The switch to more electrification is therefore taking place in gradual steps and has no impact on business continuity. With the fallback flex product, these first steps are now also possible in areas where local grid congestion may occur. Fallback flex ensures that companies can continue their electrification.
The company is making a voluntary choice to be able to connect to the electricity grid more quickly instead of having to wait for grid reinforcements to be realised. In other words, there is no disadvantage for customers.
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What data currently serves as the basis for a decision made as part of the connection request process?When evaluating a request for connection to the distribution grid, Elia looks at the historical load on the grid, an estimate of the increase in residential consumption (e.g. EVs and heat pumps) and the already approved connection requests that may affect the grid elements concerned. The sum of this data is then compared to the capacity available at the transformer substation and the overhead lines.
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Why is there an impact only on businesses and not on households? After all, aren't we all dependent on the same electricity grid?
When managing the electricity grid, the grid operators always provide a certain capacity for the underlying level, also for the low-voltage grid to which the households are connected. Therefore, there is no impact for families.
