The Dutch will have to invest nearly €200 billion over the next few years to keep the power grid running in line with the “green” transition, according to operators.
Additionally, by 2040, electricity costs for consumers were expected to rise two to four times their current levels.
That, according to insiders quoted by newspaper De Telegraaf, was the conclusion of an official study into the costs of the energy transition that will be presented on March 7.
The bill is so high that, according to one source, officials were left stunned by the predicted figures.
Dutch public news organisation NOS shared a PWC report titled the Financial Impact of Energy Transition for Network Operators (FIEN) for Netbeheer Nederland – the association of all electricity and gas network operators in the Netherlands – published on December 17 last year, confirming the numbers.
In addition, the €195 billion sum was far from the worst possible outcome but a mid-range assessment of options available.
A worse scenario would see Dutch taxpayers facing a bill of €282 billion over the next 15 years.
Most of the costs in any case would be for electricity and the move to electrify industry in combination with the push for wind and solar energy generation and deployment.
The Netherlands was already experiencing “net congestion”, where there was so much power moving on the grid that certain companies or residential areas could not be connected anymore.
To fix that, much infrastructural work would need to take place, ranging from an expansion of the power grid to additional transformer facilities and digging up streets across the country for the required heavier cable networks.
At present, around 10,000 companies were on the waiting list for a high-capacity connection.
The report also proposed some other possibilities that the government and parliament could pursue.
One option was to ask Brussels for more money.
The expected jump in electricity prices was set to become a political headache, with the current government wanting to lower the current bill for consumers.
In a recent debate with Liberal climate minister Sophie Hermans, MPs had already flagged concerns about the likelihood of much heftier energy bills.
“It feels more and more like we’re footing a big chunk of the cost for Germany’s energy transition,” MP Silvio Erkens told his Liberal Party colleague.
“What portion of our grid congestion comes from Germany? And how much extra are we paying each year on our current grid because of them?”
Hermans reportedly did not want to respond to questions regarding the issues from De Telegraaf but told parliament previously that there should be a “giant transition and rebuilding of the energy infrastructure”.
This, she said, would enable an exit from fossil fuels reliance that “we don’t want to depend on”.
The minister acknowledged the existence of “barriers and hurdles in the implementation” but said she did not see that as a reason to put the push for energy independence on hold.
If investments in the power grid were not made, researchers warned that the Netherlands could miss out on economic gains of €10 to €40 billion per year.
That, they said, was partly because businesses would not be able to operate effectively and homes would not be built.
Germans living in the southeast of the country were told to limit electricity use on the morning of January 3 over issues to do with the local grid. https://t.co/209vCms4Mi
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 3, 2025
