Grid congestion (netcongestie)
A grid segment has reached its transport capacity, so it cannot safely carry more electricity in one or both directions. New or heavier connections in a congested area may be delayed, queued, or refused until capacity is freed or the grid is expanded.
Off-take (afname)
Electricity flowing from the grid into a connection, the direction a factory, data centre, or EV charging hub draws power. Off-take capacity and feed-in capacity are tracked separately, since a connection can be constrained in one direction and not the other.
Feed-in (teruglevering)
Electricity flowing from a connection back into the grid, the direction a solar park or battery discharging uses. A grid segment can have room for feed-in while being full for off-take, or the reverse, so the two are never assumed to move together.
Transport scarcity (transportschaarste)
A broader term than congestion, covering any situation where available grid transport capacity is limited relative to demand, whether or not a formal congestion procedure has started. Grid operators use it to flag areas approaching congestion, not only areas already congested.
Congestion management (congestiemanagement)
A set of market mechanisms that let a grid operator keep offering capacity in a congested area by paying or contracting parties to use less capacity at peak moments. It is a way to relieve pressure on the grid without waiting for physical expansion.
Priority framework (maatschappelijk prioriteren)
The rules Dutch regulators use to decide which connection requests in a shared queue get capacity first, based on societal categories (such as healthcare, safety, housing, or grid-relief value) rather than only request date or connection size.
Congestion easer (congestieverzachter)
A connection, typically a battery or flexible generator, that demonstrably frees up grid capacity for others rather than only consuming it. Under the Dutch priority framework, a congestion easer can qualify for priority treatment that a plain generation or storage connection does not automatically get.
Connection pause (aansluitpauze)
A temporary stop on new or heavier grid connections in a specific area, applied by a grid operator when capacity has run out. It is narrower than a full congestion designation and is usually reviewed on a fixed schedule rather than left open-ended.
Waiting list (wachtlijst)
The ordered list of connection requests in a congested or capacity-scarce area that cannot be granted immediately. Position on the list determines who receives capacity first as it becomes available, subject to whatever priority framework applies in that area.
Capacity map (capaciteitskaart)
The official Netbeheer Nederland map showing grid capacity status by area, published so businesses and developers can check before applying for a connection. It shows a single status color per area, which can hide the difference between a regional-grid constraint and a transmission-grid constraint at the same location.
Grid operator (netbeheerder)
The company legally responsible for building, maintaining and operating a part of the electricity grid, and for connecting new customers to it. The Netherlands has one transmission grid operator (TenneT) and several regional grid operators (Enexis, Liander, Stedin, Westland Infra and smaller others), each responsible for a defined geographic area.
Source: Netbeheer Nederland, capaciteitskaart
Transmission system operator (TSO) (landelijk netbeheerder)
TenneT is the Netherlands' sole transmission system operator, running the national high-voltage backbone that connects regional grids, large power plants and interconnections to other countries. A TSO-layer constraint is a different fact from a DSO-layer constraint at the same location, and Wattlas always states which layer a claim describes.
Source: Netbeheer Nederland, capaciteitskaart
Distribution system operator (DSO) (regionale netbeheerder)
A regional grid operator (Enexis, Liander, Stedin, Westland Infra and smaller others) running the grid that most connections actually sit on, below the transmission layer. A DSO can show headroom in an area where the TSO above it is full, or the reverse.
Source: Netbeheer Nederland, capaciteitskaart
Congestion area (congestiegebied)
A defined geographic area for which a grid operator has formally announced structural congestion, opening the door to congestion management there. Grid operators track and publish congestion areas separately at the DSO and TSO level, since the two can overlap only partly.
Source: Investeringsplan Stedin 2026, inclusief zienswijzen, 23 april 2026
Available transport capacity (aanwezige transportcapaciteit)
The technical maximum amount of electricity a grid segment can carry, given the network's design and safety limits. This is the ceiling a congestion study measures the benodigde (needed) and gevraagde (requested) capacity against.
Source: Stedin, congestiemanagementonderzoek Walcheren Noord (afname), 17 December 2024
Needed transport capacity (benodigde transportcapaciteit)
The transport capacity required to serve all connections that already have an approved transport agreement in an area, including their expected autonomous growth. A congestion study compares this figure against available capacity to establish whether a structural shortfall exists.
Source: Stedin, congestiemanagementonderzoek Walcheren Noord (afname), 17 December 2024
Requested transport capacity (gevraagde transportcapaciteit)
The additional transport capacity requested by all applicants currently on an area's waiting list, on top of what is already needed for existing connections. Adding this to needed capacity gives the total demand a grid operator is weighing against available capacity.
Source: Stedin, congestiemanagementonderzoek Walcheren Noord (afname), 17 December 2024
Structural shortfall (structureel tekort)
The gap that remains, in a given year, between an area's total transport demand (needed plus requested capacity) and its available capacity, after any technical measures are applied. A congestion study typically forecasts this shortfall several years forward.
Source: Stedin, congestiemanagementonderzoek Walcheren Noord (afname), 17 December 2024
Technical limit (technische grens)
The point, defined in the grid code, past which a grid operator is no longer legally required to keep applying congestion management to avoid unsafe operation. It is set relative to available capacity and any additional flexible capacity the operator can call on.
Source: Stedin, congestiemanagementonderzoek Walcheren Noord (afname), 17 December 2024
Congestion study (congestieonderzoek)
A grid operator's formal, dated analysis of a named congestion area: the available, needed and requested transport capacity, the technical limit, and whether congestion management can be applied. It is the primary evidence behind a congestion designation, distinct from the capacity map's single status color.
Source: Stedin, congestiemanagementonderzoek Walcheren Noord (afname), 17 December 2024
Investment plan (investeringsplan)
A grid operator's periodic, legally required publication of planned network expansions and replacements, region by region, with expected years and project phases. It is the primary source for indicative grid-reinforcement dates.
Source: Investeringsplan Stedin 2026, inclusief zienswijzen, 23 april 2026
Aansluitoffensief (Aansluitoffensief)
A Dutch government programme of measures aimed at reducing connection waiting times, alongside the wider LAN programme, covering steps such as unlocking flexibility above the financial threshold and improving contract terms with grid operators, the ACM and the market.
Source: Kamerbrief Aansluitoffensief netcongestie, 4 February 2026
LAN (national congestion action programme) (Landelijk Actieprogramma Netcongestie)
The Dutch government programme in which the state, regional authorities, grid operators and market parties work together on maintaining access to electricity capacity, organised around three lines: better use of the grid, faster building, and smarter insight. Progress is reported to parliament twice a year.
Source: Kamerbrief Voortgang aanpak Netcongestie, 2 April 2026
FGU region (FGU-regio (Flevopolder, Gelderland, Utrecht))
A cross-provincial area the Dutch government treats as the highest national priority in its congestion approach, where large grid-capacity shortfalls must be resolved before measures create room to connect new users. The government has started a joint crisis approach there to avoid a full connection stop.
Source: Kamerbrief Voortgang aanpak Netcongestie, 2 April 2026
Flex tender (flextender)
A last-resort mechanism a grid operator can use when regular congestion management does not free up enough capacity: it asks the market for flexibility through a tender at strategic locations. Flex tenders are technology-neutral, so they can be met with batteries or, in the most extreme case, gas-fired generation.
Source: Kamerbrief Voortgang aanpak Netcongestie, 2 April 2026
Group transport agreement (GTO) (groepstransportovereenkomst)
A contract that lets multiple connections on one site or business park share and balance their transport capacity as a group, rather than each holding a separate fixed allocation. Enexis signed an early example in Nederweert, letting a business park match energy supply and demand internally and free up room for growth.
Source: Kamerbrief Voortgang aanpak Netcongestie, 2 April 2026
Block-hour contract (blokstroomcontract)
A flexible transport contract tied to fixed time blocks rather than a constant round-the-clock allocation. The number of signed block-hour contracts tripled nationally to 142 by the end of 2025, up from 41 in 2024.
Source: Kamerbrief Voortgang aanpak Netcongestie, 2 April 2026
Capacity-limiting contract (CBC) (capaciteitsbeperkingscontract)
A congestion-management contract in which a connection agrees to limit its capacity use at specific moments in exchange for a reward, without necessarily being fully flexible at all other times. It is one of the standard product types grid operators offer alongside capacity-steering contracts and redispatch.
Source: Derde Voortgangsrapportage LAN, April 2026
Time-of-use grid tariff (tijdsafhankelijk nettarief)
A grid tariff that varies by time of day to reward shifting consumption away from peak hours. In effect for TenneT's high-voltage customers since 1 January 2025, it cut average monthly peak load by 7.1% in the first half of 2025; a similar tariff for large regional-grid customers is expected around 2028.
Source: Kamerbrief Voortgang aanpak Netcongestie, 2 April 2026
GOPACS (GOPACS)
A joint platform run by all seven Dutch grid operators that coordinates congestion-management solutions and lets businesses trade flexible electricity use for financial reward or improved connection prospects, rather than only waiting on physical grid expansion.
Source: GOPACS