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The electricity grid is under pressure, and the consequences are now being felt in virtually all sectors. Businesses are having to wait longer for a connection, sustainability plans are being delayed, and the energy transition is stalling. Yet, the message during Net op Groen Noord-Nederland On November 13, 2025, was surprisingly hopeful: there is space on the grid, if we use it smarter and work together.

Grid congestion poses a major problem. There is little to no capacity to connect new households and businesses to the power grid and it risks halting the energy transition. Michele Cucuzzella, Associate Professor of Energy Systems & Nonlinear Control, researches how we can use our current energy infrastructure more efficiently.

Grid congestion poses a challenge to our electricity network, and expanding the infrastructure will take time and money. ‘What we can do right now, is manage and optimize what we have as best as we can,’ says Michele Cucuzzella. For example by using peaks in electricity generation to heat and store water which can then be used to heat houses in the city at a later stage.