On a beautiful Wednesday evening, 20 September to be precise, we gathered at Alliander's impressive building in Duiven. The theme of the evening was none other than 'Available capacity of the electricity grid now and in the future'.

Summary:

The energy transition is in full swing, but as Maarten van Riet of Alliander made clear to us, the electricity grid is running up against its limits. Maarten, a technical consultant and innovator at Alliander, highlighted challenges such as material and staff shortages. He also talked about innovative solutions to extend the life of installations and create a more reliable grid, such as cable installation with the Watacab™ and real-time grid monitoring with the Smart Cable Guard. Innovative solutions against corrosion at final terminations were also discussed.

Mart van der Meijden, an emeritus professor from Delft University of Technology, took us into the world of smart grids and sustainable energy integration. Among other things, he discussed technologies such as Autonomously Regulated Distribution Transformer and Artificial Intelligence in the low-voltage grid, but he also returned to basics with the importance of correctly applying the Trias Energetica.

The audience was as enthusiastic and interactive as the speakers, making the evening a great success. We concluded with networking drinks, a perfect opportunity to further discuss these pressing and fascinating topics.

The presentations by Maarten van Riet and Mart van der Meijden can be found under 'Documents'

Network operator Alliander warns that demand for electricity is rising faster than supply. They are sounding the alarm bell, saying that households should expect flashing lights, not being able to feed solar power back or even power cuts.

The energy transition is really picking up steam now. The number of homes and small businesses with solar panels increased by a quarter, and the number of heat pumps and electric cars has also risen. All this does mean that many households and businesses need a heavier electricity connection. According to Alliander, it is impossible to keep up with this pace of energy transition.

This poses problems for the immediate future, because as a result of the agreements in the climate agreement, sustainability needs to accelerate even more. On top of this, Alliander is struggling with both material and staff shortages. In some parts of the country, the grid operator is already unable to process connection requests immediately.

Programme:

18.00 h Reception with coffee/tea and a sandwich

18.30 h Opening by chairman of the day Arnold Groot and explanation of Poll Everywhere

18.45 h Current situation of the electricity grid, problems and opportunities by Maarten van Riet

20.30 hours What will the electricity grid look like in the future by Mart van der Meijden

21.15 hours Summary and closing led by Arnold Groot followed for drinks

Speakers:

Maarten van Riet, Energy Consultancy at Alliander

Maarten van Riet, technical consultant and innovator at Alliander, received a royal honour on 10 December: Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion, from the hands of Mayor of Arnhem, Ahmed Marcouch. Maarten received this royal honour for his added value to the energy sector where he managed to connect people and inspire young talent with humour and professionalism. This has benefited society over the past 40 years.

After studying electrical engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, Maarten van Riet joined Alliander (then Provinciale Gelderse Elektriciteits Maatschappij) in 1979. Here, he soon showed that he is a true innovator. He is praised for his creativity and guts that led to many innovations and cost savings. Not only for Alliander, but for the entire energy sector. Some great examples of innovations introduced thanks to Maarten are the plastic cables, under the slogan 'plastic fantastic' and the SASensor. Both have led to a safer and more reliable energy network. Plastic cables result in fewer failures and SASensor ensures that failures can be resolved faster.

Mart van der Meijden, Emeritus Professor of Delft University of Technology

Mart A. M. M. van der Meijden (Member, IEEE) received the M.Sc. degree (Hons.) in electrical engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1981. Since 2011 he has been a Part-Time Full Professor with the Department of Electrical Sustainable Energy of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computers Science, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands. His chair and research focus is on Large Scale Sustainable Power Systems. He has 40 years of working experience in the field of process automation and the transmission and the distribution of gas, district heating and electricity.

He is leading research programs on intelligent electrical power grids, reliable and large scale Sustainable Power Systems. He has 40 years of working experience in the field of process automation and the transmission and the distribution of gas, district heating and electricity. He is leading research programs on intelligent electrical power grids, reliable and large scale integration of renewable (wind, solar) energy sources in the European electrical power systems and advanced grid concepts.

Since 2003 he has been with TenneT TSO, Europe's first cross-border grid operator for electricity. He is a Manager R&D/Innovation and was responsible for the development of the TenneT long-term vision on the electrical transmission system. Prof. van der Meijden is a Member of ENTSO-E/RDIC, ETIP SNET, and CIGRE, and he has joined and chaired different national and international expert groups.

Documents