Netherlands Pioneers Smart Energy Hubs to Solve Critical Grid Capacity Crisis
Amsterdam, Saturday, 7 February 2026.
Noord-Holland launches innovative Smart Energy Hubs where businesses form cooperatives to share electricity connections and coordinate energy usage, creating desperately needed grid capacity for economic growth. With 21 active hubs currently supported by ROM InWest, companies can reduce peak demand by up to 80% through smart coordination, while also sharing waste heat between facilities. This groundbreaking approach addresses the Netherlands’ severe grid capacity shortage that threatens business expansion and positions the province as a global leader in collaborative energy solutions.
ROM InWest Spearheads Provincial Initiative
ROM InWest, the regional development company for Noord-Holland, has emerged as the driving force behind the Smart Energy Hubs initiative after being commissioned by the province to investigate financial support mechanisms for entrepreneurs establishing these collaborative energy systems [1]. Paul Hauptmeijer, who serves as the project coordinator for Smart Energy Hubs at ROM InWest, confirmed that the province currently provides active guidance for 21 Smart Energy Hubs across Noord-Holland [1]. The concept centers on companies within business parks combining their high-consumption electricity connections and strategically coordinating their energy usage to maximize network capacity utilization [1]. This collaborative approach requires businesses to form cooperatives and formalize their partnership with grid operators through a Group Transport Agreement (GTO), which legally defines the shared energy infrastructure arrangement [1].
Pilot Programs Face Implementation Challenges
The GTO framework remains in development phases, with pilot programs scheduled to continue only through the end of 2026 [1]. A concrete example of these implementation challenges emerged at Baanstee Noord, a business park in Purmerend near the A7 highway, where a group of entrepreneurs prepared to collaborate on a Smart Energy Hub but encountered delays due to postponed construction of a new electricity station [1]. Despite these technical hurdles, ROM InWest maintains its commitment to supporting these energy cooperatives financially, with Hauptmeijer emphasizing that “financing for this initiative will come to the table regardless” and expressing the organization’s proactive approach to supporting businesses even before technical and legal frameworks are fully established [1]. ROM InWest plans to launch a comprehensive subsidy scan featuring relevant subsidies for 2026, providing cooperatives with essential financial foundations [1].
Economic Impact and Grid Capacity Solutions
The Smart Energy Hubs deliver measurable economic benefits by creating additional grid capacity for emerging businesses through strategic peak demand reduction. Hauptmeijer explained that “when large consumers reduce their peak demand, space is created on the grid for other companies,” which strengthens Noord-Holland’s business climate for start-ups, scale-ups, and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises [1]. This approach addresses a critical infrastructure bottleneck that has constrained business expansion across the Netherlands [GPT]. ROM InWest’s investment strategy extends beyond initial support, with plans to invest in assets or shares once substantial investments become necessary, and consideration of early-stage involvement through adjusted financing conditions in practical cases [1].
Heat Sharing Amplifies Environmental Benefits
Beyond electricity coordination, Smart Energy Hubs unlock significant environmental advantages through waste heat recovery networks that could dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Hauptmeijer highlighted that within cooperatives, “heat can also be shared,” noting that manufacturing facilities and cold storage warehouses frequently generate substantial waste heat that can be distributed via heat networks to businesses requiring thermal energy [1]. This heat-sharing capability carries particular significance since thermal energy represents 70 to 80 percent of total energy consumption [1]. The dual approach of electrical grid optimization combined with thermal energy sharing positions these Smart Energy Hubs as comprehensive solutions for industrial decarbonization, aligning with broader global trends toward integrated energy systems that combine artificial intelligence with sustainable energy management to achieve industrial carbon neutrality goals [2].