The Municipality of The Hague warns that the consequences of the congested power grids will become increasingly visible in the city in the coming years. Due to new national regulations, grid operators must prioritize all applications for power connections based on societal priority as of July 1, 2026. As a result, vital functions such as housing, education, heat projects, and public transport will be given priority, while functions without societal priority, such as SMEs and charging infrastructure, will be considered later. The updated impact analysis shows how The Hague is dealing with the scarce grid capacity and what steps are needed until the expected solution in 2034–2036.
“Grid congestion affects our city on many fronts: from housing to education, and from businesses to social facilities. With this impact analysis, we map out the steps we need to take to strengthen the grid and distribute the available capacity fairly and wisely,” says Alderman Arjen Kapteijns (Energy Transition).
The analysis shows that grid congestion in The Hague is primarily caused by peak loads from households in the morning and early evening, causing the electricity grid to become overloaded at all levels. This peak load means that available capacity is running out faster than new infrastructure can be built. TenneT and Stedin have therefore declared grid congestion on the high-, medium-, and low-voltage networks. As of July 1, 2026, all applications – both large and small consumers – will be processed according to the grid congestion prioritization framework of the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM), whereby vital functions such as hospitals, drinking water companies, and fire stations are connected first, and companies without societal priority only after January 1, 2027, if capacity is still available.
Consequences for housing, education, and social facilities
Only housing projects that are sufficiently far along in the planning phase can apply for priority earlier. The municipality is therefore compiling an overview of projects eligible for this, so that it is clear which housing developments can be connected in the coming years.
Priority can also be requested earlier for the renovation and new construction of schools included in the Integrated Housing Plan. Sustainability projects for schools must be carried out within the existing electricity connection. To limit delays, as of October 1, 2026, it will be possible for housing projects and educational institutions to apply for a connection at an early stage and thus reserve a place on the waiting list in a timely manner. Heat projects and other basic facilities will also be given priority, but cannot be applied for earlier.
Limited space for economy and mobility
The consequences are significant for SMEs as well. Companies are only given priority if they are part of a residential plinth or deploy congestion reducers, such as batteries. The mobility challenge is also coming under pressure. As of July 1, 2026, new public charging stations will be placed on the waiting list without priority, causing the municipality to now accelerate the application process for additional connections. Public transport, however, is given priority, provided capacity is available.
The municipality is actively seeking solutions.
The municipality is working intensively with TenneT and Stedin to limit the impact of grid congestion. The focus is on spatially enabling new electricity facilities and utilizing available capacity as efficiently as possible. To increase grid capacity, major expansions are necessary: approximately 500 new transformer substations must be integrated into existing neighborhoods, and two new main distribution stations and additional medium-voltage substations will be built in Scheveningen and Mariahoeve/Leidschendam-Voorburg. Due to limited space in the city, these expansions are complex and far-reaching, but necessary to reinforce the grid and make it future-proof. In addition, the municipality is working on smart solutions such as batteries, energy hubs, grid-aware charging, and grid-aware construction. These measures will not resolve grid congestion, but they can mitigate it and offer a course of action in the short term.
Text: Gemeente Den Haag
Translation to English: The Hague Online
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