Netherlands energy firms launch household demand‑response scheme

Network operators Enexis, Liander and Stedin are partnering with energy suppliers Eneco, Essent, Vattenfall, Frank Energie and Zonneplan to shift residential electricity use to off‑peak periods. Households in Gelderland, Utrecht, parts of the Flevopolder and North Brabant can receive financial compensation for reducing consumption during winter peaks between 16:00 and 21:00.

The programme aims to relieve an over‑loaded Dutch grid by “smartly controlling” electric‑vehicle chargers, home batteries and hybrid heat pumps. In the short term 50,000‑70,000 homes are targeted, with the potential to involve several hundred thousand and free up about 255 MW of flexible capacity – roughly the output of the city of Haarlem. A pilot last year saw about 35,000 participants. “The energy transition requires not only grid expansion but smarter use of the network,” said Maarten Otto, chairman of Netbeheer Nederland and chief executive of Alliander, describing the situation as urgent.