How to protect your contracted capacity.

How to protect your contracted capacity

Grid operators are introducing major changes to ease the growing pressure on the electricity grid. These changes have a direct impact on businesses with large-capacity connections. If you have contracted capacity that you are not fully using, you risk losing it. What does that mean for your business?
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What is happening now?

• Unused contracted capacity is starting to be taken back. If you leave more than 50% of your contracted capacity unused, or more than 1 MW underused, your contract may be reduced within two months.
• Mandatory congestion management is being introduced in the province of Utrecht in regions where the grid is full. This may mean you are asked to adjust your energy use at specific times.
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The impact on your business

These developments affect businesses directly. Without sufficient contracted capacity:

• You cannot grow, electrify, or decarbonise.
• You risk additional costs due to mandatory congestion management.
• You become more dependent on an overloaded grid, which can cause disruptions.
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For many businesses, especially in logistics and real estate, this runs directly against their ambitions to remain sustainable and competitive.
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How do you stay in control of your energy?

A battery solution from Steddion provides a practical answer. With it, you can:

• Make optimal use of your contracted capacity: store the energy you are not using, so you can deploy it later when you need more capacity.

• Retain your contracted capacity: by making full use of your connection, you meet the requirements set by Enexis or Stedin and reduce the risk of capacity being taken back.

• Become more energy independent: by combining energy storage with an Energy Management System (EMS), you can use energy at the moment it delivers the most value. You store energy when tariffs are low and use it, or feed it back, when tariffs are high.
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Example from practice

At Cornelissen in Beers, the challenge was how to make the best possible use of both surplus capacity on the grid connection and self-generated solar energy. By deploying five powerful SunGiga 215 kWh units and an advanced Energy Management System (EMS), Cornelissen found a solution that is both sustainable and financially attractive.

The battery stores solar energy while also making use of the unused remaining capacity of the grid connection. This prevents the grid operator from reclaiming contracted capacity and ensures that the full connection remains available. Thanks to the smart control provided by the EMS, energy is used to its best advantage, both for internal use and for participation in energy trading.

With this approach, Cornelissen not only makes maximum use of the available solar energy, but also creates a new revenue stream. By using battery storage intelligently, Cornelissen retains control over its energy flows and contributes to a more sustainable future.

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