Tennet will use new technology to make better use of the entire Dutch electricity grid. By responding intelligently to the weather, the grid operator wants to increase capacity by up to 30 percent.

This has to do with the “sag” of streamlines. The warmer it is, the more the streamlines sag. The more the streamlines sag, the less energy can be transferred.

In cold weather with lots of wind, the lines actually cool down, causing them to hang straighter. At that point, much more current can flow through the line.

In order to respond to this intelligently, Tenet has installed special sensors on power lines. This is happening in eight locations spread across the country.

These sensors send the sag every five minutes. Combined with weather forecasts, it can be determined how much extra power can be used via the connection. This creates additional space on the electricity grid.

The network operator already started an experiment in 2016 with the so-called Dynamic line classification. This technology is already being used in our neighbouring countries.

The electricity grid is currently full in many places in the Netherlands. However, new technology does not guarantee that more households and businesses will be able to connect to the grid. Due to the unpredictability of the weather, additional capacity cannot be guaranteed.

The heavily loaded Dutch electricity grid will therefore have to be significantly expanded in the coming years.

NOSop3 previously explained why our power grid is full: