Companies in large parts of Noord-Holland may have to wait 10 years before they can be connected to the electricity network, grid operators Tennet and Liander have warned.

New companies will miss out and existing companies wanting to become more sustainable will have to wait to make the switch from gas to electricity, they said.

The problems are mounting, the operators said and could result in a network overload in 2026, leading to outages for companies and households.

The problems are caused by a growing number of companies and new builds, and moves by companies to use electricity instead of gas. Households are using more electricity too, with induction hobs, cars and heat pumps all adding to the load.

The grid operators have been trying to relieve the pressure on the network by introducing “peak avoidance”, meaning companies and households are asked to use less or no electricity at certain times.  However, so far companies major consumers of electricity have not heeded the call.

Tennet is calling on companies Noord Holland to postpone the switch to gas for the time being.  The greenhouses in the province have their own generation plants which the operators can call on to provide extra electricity. If they switch to geothermal energy, for instance, that backup will disappear.

The operators are preparing a plan to combat network congestion but said for now a 10-year wait for companies is all they can offer.

The climate agreement reached in 2018 states that the Netherlands seven million homes and one million other buildings should all be heated using renewable sources by 2050.