Dutch municipalities implement early registration to combat grid congestion

Dutch municipalities Meppel and Goeree-Overflakkee are implementing new registration procedures to combat grid congestion, which is limiting electricity capacity for new developments.

In Meppel, developers, housing corporations, and individuals with concrete plans for housing or school facilities to be completed by 2036 must register their projects by September 2, 2026. The municipality will submit a single project list to the grid operator Enexis starting October 1, 2026, to request power capacity.

Similarly, Goeree-Overflakkee is calling on initiators of housing and school projects to register by September 6, 2026. Under this new regulation, the municipality will request priority for network connections and transport capacity from the grid operator Stedin. This ‘early application’ system aims to place projects on a waiting list sooner than the standard process, which typically requires a project to be more fully developed before application.