Grid congestion: why the grid is sometimes 'full'

Kamp C also wants to take responsibility in this area. In the long term, we want to evolve into an energy-neutral site, together with our partners. It was precisely because of this ambition that we encountered a challenge last month that is becoming increasingly common in Flanders: grid congestion. We discussed this with our project managers Marijke Aerts and Hans Vanuffelen.

So what exactly is grid congestion?

Our electricity grid is made up of zones that are fed by transformers: from high voltage to medium voltage and finally to low voltage, to which homes and businesses are connected. With our plans for the future in mind, we approached grid operator Fluvius to see what possibilities there are for us going forward. It turned out that Kamp C is currently located in a grid congestion area.

Grid congestion means that the electricity grid in a certain area is fully booked. This does not mean that there is no more electricity, but it does mean that the grid operator cannot simply guarantee extra capacity without taking risks. For private households, this is not a problem for the time being. The impact is mainly on larger capacities, such as businesses and industrial estates.

The price of reliability

Fluvius manages the distribution grid and has clear priorities: the safety and reliability of the grid. In Belgium, we may have come to take this for granted, but large-scale power outages due to overload are exceptional in our country. That is no coincidence.

Marijke explains it clearly: "The grid is designed in such a way that there is always a backup ready. If something fails somewhere, another line or transformer can immediately take over. This safety margin ensures that the lights stay on, even in the event of incidents." The same logic also explains why Fluvius is very cautious about additional connections and expansions. In a grid congestion area, it is not only what you actually consume today that counts, but also what you could theoretically consume in a worst-case scenario.

For Kamp C, this has very concrete consequences. We are not a large industrial area, but even as a smaller SME zone, we are already feeling the restrictions today. A clear example is our charging infrastructure. Today, we have six charging points, but in order to keep up with the electrification of company cars, we are aiming for at least twenty charging points in the short term.

That's where the problem lies. "For our existing charging stations, we have a contractual capacity of 160 kW," Hans explains. "In practice, we currently use about 70 kW of that. However, Fluvius must always be able to guarantee the full 160 kW, and that full capacity counts towards the calculation of grid congestion. This makes expansion difficult, even when actual consumption is lower."

Not bigger, but smarter

The classic solution to rising energy demand is to upgrade the grid by installing thicker cables or larger transformers. But that is expensive, slow and not always feasible. That is why the focus is increasingly shifting to a different approach: using what is already there more intelligently. And that is where we see an opportunity.

Together with partners such as Fluvius and within the WeShare project, which includes POM Antwerp and ZuidtrAnt, we are mapping our entire site. We are looking at which buildings are there, where energy is generated, where energy is consumed, and when that happens.

Today, for example, we see that there are solar panels at 't Centrum that produce energy surpluses at certain times, while elsewhere on the site, such as at the charging station at the front, there is a shortage. Technically, these are different connection points, but in terms of energy, Kamp C forms a single entity. The question is therefore how we can use locally generated energy locally, without placing an unnecessary burden on the grid.

To visualise this, Hans compares the electricity grid to a motorway: "The cables have a certain capacity, just like lanes. Too much traffic at the same time causes traffic jams. In the case of electricity, this results in overload. What we want to investigate is how we can regulate that traffic locally as much as possible, before we have to connect to the main grid. The less energy that has to be transferred back and forth via medium-voltage and high-voltage grids, the more stable the whole system remains."

The question is not how much, but when

We believe flexibility plays a key role in this story. Should every user always be able to consume their maximum capacity, 24 hours a day? Or can we agree more intelligently on who needs a lot of energy and when?

This is very concrete in the case of charging stations. A charging station can technically supply up to 11 kW. But if cars are parked on site for a whole working day, it makes little difference to the user whether they are charged in three hours or six hours. By charging more slowly, we spread consumption and reduce the required peak power. That is good for the grid. This logic is already being applied in the Netherlands, where the grid operator charges charging stations at less than 11 kW. Smart control reduces the maximum power at times when there is high energy demand. Kamp C wants to investigate whether such an approach could also provide solutions at our business park.

However, in Belgium, Fluvius still calculates the worst-case scenario for these charging stations: what if the control system fails and all charging stations charge at full power at the same time? Then that must be possible. We fully understand and respect this safety reasoning. At the same time, there are already reliable control systems in place today that greatly limit these risks. The challenge, therefore, lies in combining safety and flexibility.

What Kamp C wants to do here is exactly what we stand for as an organisation: experimenting, learning and showing how things can be done differently. Grid congestion is not a problem that we will 'solve in no time', but a reality that more and more companies and municipalities are facing.

By using our own site as a testing ground, we want to understand what is and is not possible within the current grid rules, work with partners to find workable solutions and share those insights with others.

Because one thing is very clear to us, as Marijke also notes: "Electrification has begun, and there is no turning back. Falling back on fossil fuels because the grid is under pressure is not an option. That would be like sticking with horses because railways were expensive and complex in the beginning."

We are on the right track. Now it is a matter of organising things in a smarter, fairer and more flexible way, together.