New research by CE Delft shows that grid-aware housing development makes it possible to deliver more homes within the existing electricity grid capacity. The Netherlands faces a major housing delivery challenge, while limited grid capacity is increasingly becoming a bottleneck. Grid-aware construction offers a practical solution: by designing developments more intelligently, the available grid capacity can be used more efficiently.
Commissioned by the Grid-Conscious New Build Working Group, comprising the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the provinces of Flevoland, Gelderland and Utrecht, NEPROM, Bouwend Nederland, Netbeheer Nederland, Techniek Nederland and Aedes, CE Delft examined the societal costs and benefits of grid-aware new build, as well as how these costs and benefits are distributed among different stakeholders.
The study compared five alternative approaches with a reference scenario in which fewer homes are built because of limited grid capacity. The findings show that:
The analysis also shows that while the benefits largely accrue to society as a whole, the additional costs are often borne by residents and housing associations.
This highlights the need for clear agreements on how costs should be shared, as well as policies that encourage grid-aware development. Without these enabling conditions, widespread implementation is unlikely to happen.