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National, provincial and local governments need to reserve more space above and below ground for rapid expansion of the power grid. The network operator Stedin makes this call.
During the presentation of its annual report, Stedin indicated that it had invested 687 million euros in the management and maintenance of its gas and electricity networks during the past calendar year. Although this is a record for Stedin, a further acceleration of the energy transition is necessary to meet climate ambitions and economic growth.
All kinds of shortages
One of the shortages that Stedin increasingly faces is the lack of space to expand the power grid. According to the network manager, more space above and below the ground must be reserved in time for this.
Koen Bogers, CEO of Stedin Group, commented: “The Stedin catchment area is a magnet for economic development and activity. Renovating the electricity network to make these developments possible is an operation that will take years. We are increasingly faced with all kinds of shortages. Think of the limited financing options, but also the shortages of materials and suitable professionals. We are also seeing in our catchment area that limited physical space is holding back the speed of the energy transition. But acceleration is needed right now. Until 2030, we will build 2 to 4 large distribution stations per year. This is on average 3 times more than before.
Shorten deadlines
The Stedin group calls on the new cabinet, the provinces, the regional energy strategies and the municipalities to pay more attention, in collaboration with the network managers, to the space necessary for the construction and extension of the electricity network. The reservation of space for cables and substations is necessary for the construction of new housing estates, business parks, data centers, but also for the areas designated in the Regional Energy Strategies (RES) for solar panels and wind turbines. Therefore, the conversation with the environment, the purchase of land and changes to zoning plans can start earlier. According to Stedin, this shortens the total time needed to build a distribution station, so consumers and contractors can be connected faster.
Stedin: 600 megawatts of connected solar panelsLast year, Stedin reports connecting 600 megawatts of solar panel capacity and 69 megawatts of wind turbines in the provinces of South Holland, Utrecht and Zeeland. Solar Magazine editors previously reported that the installed capacity of solar panels in the Stedin work area among consumers reached 988.6 megawatts peak (ed. 1,177.5 megawatts peak, including Zeeland province ). By 2030, Stedin expects to have connected nearly 6 gigawatts of sustainable generation from wind turbines and rooftop solar panels. This requires 1,850 kilometers of medium voltage cables. This is roughly the distance between Rotterdam and Lisbon. In addition, a large part of the main distribution substations must be modernized and hundreds of new transformer substations are needed. This is calculated on the basis of the existing climate agreement. Europe’s more ambitious goals of ‘Fit for 55’ and the new coalition agreement are not yet included. |
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