Energy law in the Netherlands: what businesses need to know

Since 1 January 2026, electricity and gas in the Netherlands are governed by one statute: the Energy Act (Energiewet), which replaced the Electricity Act 1998 (Elektriciteitswet 1998) and the Gas Act (Gaswet). For most businesses, the rules that matter in practice are those on grid connections, supply contracts, sustainability duties and subsidies, but the key exception is grid congestion (netcongestie): even with every right in place, a new or larger connection may simply not be available yet.

Grid congestion limits new connections in large parts of the Netherlands. Alongside that, the energy-saving obligation (energiebesparingsplicht), the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) bring audit and reporting duties, while the Energy Act sets transparency requirements for suppliers and gives explicit rights to active customers (actieve afnemers). The Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt, ACM) supervises the market. This guide follows the order in which these questions usually come up: framework, contract, connection, permits, sustainability duties, subsidies and enforcement.

What is the Energy Act and what does it regulate?

The Energy Act is the central legal framework for electricity and gas in the Netherlands. It has applied since 1 January 2026 and replaced the Electricity Act 1998 and the Gas Act.

For your business, what matters most is how the Act affects connection, transport, supply, flexibility and own generation. The Act distinguishes between small and large connections. According to Article 1.1 Energy Act, a connection is large where its capacity exceeds 3 x 80 amperes for electricity, or 40 cubic metres per hour for gas. Many rules depend on this distinction, so it is worth checking which category your connection falls into.

As an end user, you are free to choose your supplier. Article 2.1 Energy Act adds that an active customer, for example a business that generates or feeds back energy itself, is free to conclude an aggregation agreement (aggregatieovereenkomst) with a market party of its choice. This allows you to earn from flexibility separately from your supply contract.

What should you check in a commercial energy contract?

Check the term, the pricing mechanism, the security required and the termination options before you sign. Commercial energy contracts vary considerably on each of these points.

In practice, look at least at:

• the term and any automatic renewal;
• how the price can change during the contract;
• the security or deposits the supplier requires;
• the notice period and any early-termination fee (opzegvergoeding);
• what happens if the supplier becomes insolvent or loses its licence.

The Energy Act protects you here as well. According to Article 2.6 Energy Act, the supplier must draft the supply agreement transparently and completely, in understandable language, and provide it to you before the agreement is concluded, together with a summary of the key terms. Article 2.8 Energy Act requires the supplier to have a transparent, simple and free complaints procedure. Under Article 2.13 Energy Act, the supplier must send you a final statement when the agreement ends, within a period set in further regulations.

If you end a fixed-term agreement early, an early-termination fee may be payable. The District Court of Oost-Brabant ruled on 27 May 2026 that such a clause in a small business energy agreement was not unreasonably onerous. The calculation was substantiated and in line with the ACM guidelines on reasonable early-termination fees, and the business had been able to request the calculation (ECLI:NL:RBOBR:2026:3623). The court also noted that the business had not put forward concrete circumstances showing why the clause was unreasonable in its case.

For variable contracts, look closely at the pricing clause. A clause that only refers in general terms to market developments makes it hard to foresee what you will actually pay. Under Dutch law, a contract clause is not read on its wording alone: what the parties could reasonably expect from each other in the circumstances also counts. Ask the supplier, before you sign, to explain in writing how the price is set and when it can change.

If you are a large consumer with your own generation or flexible consumption, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) alongside your supply contract can be attractive. A PPA covers the offtake of renewable energy, price, volume, guarantees of origin, imbalance and term. The separate arrangements on connection, transport and balance responsibility still apply alongside it, so the contracts need to be aligned with each other.

How does grid congestion affect your connection?

Grid congestion can mean that your application for a new or larger connection is placed on a waiting list. In large parts of the Dutch electricity grid, there is not enough capacity to establish new connections or expand existing ones.

For businesses that want to grow, decarbonise or electrify, this is currently one of the most tangible energy-law bottlenecks. In principle, your business is entitled to transport of electricity up to the capacity contracted and made available at your connection. The procedure for requesting a connection, the deadlines for the grid operator to respond with a quote, and the period within which the connection must be completed are laid down in the Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026, a technical code set by the ACM. Delivery can be postponed in specific circumstances, such as force majeure.

Grid operators apply a prioritisation framework when handling waiting lists. Which criteria apply to your application, and which objection or dispute options you have against a refusal, must be assessed case by case. Ask the grid operator for the exact grounds for its decision and the expected completion date in writing.

A limited grid connection does not have to stop your plans. There are several ways to work around it:

• Congestion management and demand steering: for a fee or subject to conditions, you adjust consumption or feed-in at times when the grid is under the heaviest load.
• Capacity-limiting and flexible contracts: subject to conditions, these can give faster access to the grid in exchange for a limit on the capacity you take or feed in at peak times.
• Cable pooling, a direct line between producer and customer, or a joint energy hub on a business park: these can ease capacity problems when conditions are met.
• Subsidies: targeted schemes are available for investment in flexibility and battery storage.

Each of these routes needs careful legal and contractual structuring. The arrangements affect your connection and transport agreement with the grid operator, and often agreements with neighbouring businesses or the operator of an energy hub.

An example to illustrate: a logistics company wants to install charging points for an electric fleet, but the grid operator places its request for extra capacity on a waiting list. The company could look at a capacity-limiting contract for night-time charging, combined with a battery on site. Before signing, it would need to check how these arrangements fit its existing transport agreement and whether a subsidy applies.

Which permits do you need for energy installations?

Alongside your energy contract and connection, you will often need permits directly related to energy use and generation. The main one is the environmental permit for an environmentally harmful activity under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet).

That permit can set requirements for energy consumption, emissions and installations such as heat pumps, combined heat and power (CHP) units or charging infrastructure. Building your own generation capacity, such as a solar park on your site or a wind turbine, will almost always require additional permits and coordination with the grid operator on the connection.

If you plan such an investment, run the permit process and the connection procedure in parallel. A permit without a timely connection has little value, and the other way round. Even where an energy rule serves a legitimate public purpose, such as environmental protection or grid expansion, not every burden may simply be placed on an individual business. With far-reaching restrictions, the legal basis, foreseeability, procedural safeguards and proportionality of the measure can play a role. When you apply for a permit, or receive a refusal, ask for the criteria and the reasoning behind the decision.

Which energy-saving, audit and reporting duties apply to you?

That depends on your energy use per site and the size of your business. Energy law imposes concrete sustainability duties alongside your rights.

The energy-saving obligation requires businesses above certain consumption levels to take energy-saving measures with a payback period of five years or less. You must report on this once every four years; according to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO), the next reporting deadline is 1 December 2027. Large consumers, from 10 million kWh of electricity or 170,000 cubic metres of natural gas equivalent per year per site, also have an investigation obligation (onderzoeksplicht): they must periodically assess which saving measures are feasible. Which obligation applies depends on the activities and consumption at each site, so check this location by location.

Separately, large undertakings must have an energy audit carried out once every four years under the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), mapping the total energy consumption of the undertaking. According to RVO, this currently applies to undertakings with 250 or more employees, or an annual turnover above €50 million and a balance sheet total above €43 million, counting affiliated companies. The revised EED replaces this with a threshold based on energy consumption; RVO states that this still has to be implemented in Dutch law.

For larger and listed companies, the CSRD adds structured reporting on climate- and energy-related risks and performance. The scope and timelines of the CSRD are being amended at EU level through the so-called Omnibus proposal and may therefore change. Check which thresholds and deadlines are definitively in force for your business at the moment you assess this, rather than relying on an earlier assessment.

If you import goods from outside the European Union, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) may apply. It brings obligations on reporting embedded emissions, verification and certificates (Regulation (EU) 2023/956, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2083).

If you manufacture, import, trade in or operate batteries, for example for battery storage on your site, the EU Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) applies. Depending on your role, it sets requirements on sustainability, safety, labelling, registration and end-of-life processing.

Which subsidies and tax incentives can you use?

The Energy Investment Allowance (Energie-investeringsaftrek, EIA) and the SDE++ scheme are the best-known schemes. They can make investment in energy saving and sustainability considerably more attractive.

Under the EIA, you can deduct 40% (in 2026) of the investment costs of qualifying energy-saving business assets from your taxable profit, on top of normal depreciation, according to RVO. The SDE++ scheme supports businesses and non-profit organisations that generate renewable energy on a large scale or reduce CO2 emissions. Whether your project qualifies depends on the application round, the technology category, the ranking and the available budget. There are also targeted subsidies for tackling grid congestion, covering research into and investment in flexibility and battery storage.

A subsidy brings obligations as well as funding: on delivery, administration, monitoring and reporting throughout the project. Terms, budgets and application windows change regularly. Have the current conditions checked against your specific investment plan before you take irreversible steps, such as signing a purchase order.

How does the ACM supervise and enforce energy law?

The ACM supervises the Dutch energy market and can impose orders and fines. Article 5.1 Energy Act designates the ACM as the regulatory authority.

Who supervises what depends on the subject. For part of the rules, supervision lies with the ACM (Article 5.17 Energy Act); for other matters, it lies with the Minister (Article 5.18 Energy Act). In the event of a breach, the ACM can impose an order subject to a penalty (last onder dwangsom, Article 5.19 Energy Act), issue a binding code of conduct or binding instruction (Article 5.20 Energy Act), or impose an administrative fine (Article 5.21 Energy Act).

If you have a dispute with a grid operator about how it performs its statutory tasks, you can submit the dispute to the ACM (Article 5.4 Energy Act). Article 5.5 Energy Act provides a complaints procedure at the ACM for disputes about demand response. Depending on the dispute, consultation, the supplier’s internal complaints procedure, a dispute procedure before the ACM or court proceedings may be the right route. Which one fits depends on the agreement, the decision and the statutory division of competences.

What should you do now?

Review your energy position at fixed moments, not only when a problem arises. Good moments are an investment decision, negotiations on a new energy contract, a connection request to the grid operator and the energy-saving report due by 1 December 2027.

What can we do for you with energy law?

Our energy law team works from Eindhoven and Amsterdam; our index of Dutch energy law guides lists everything we have written on the subject. In practice we:

• Review your supply contract or PPA on term, price clause, security and early-termination fee before you sign.
• Assess a refused or delayed connection against the Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026 and prepare a dispute with the ACM under Article 5.4 Energy Act.
• Structure capacity-limiting contracts, cable pooling, direct lines and energy hubs on a business park.
• Check per site whether the energy-saving obligation, the EED energy audit, the CSRD, CBAM or the Battery Regulation applies to you.
• Check the conditions of an EIA or SDE++ subsidy against your investment plan before you sign a purchase order.
• Handle objection and appeal procedures against ACM orders, penalties and fines.

Summary

• Since 1 January 2026, the Energy Act governs electricity and gas; the Electricity Act 1998 and the Gas Act no longer apply.
• Check the term, price mechanism, security and early-termination fee in every energy contract before you sign.
• Grid congestion can delay a new or larger connection; capacity-limiting contracts, cable pooling and energy hubs are possible alternatives.
• The energy-saving obligation, the EED energy audit, the CSRD, CBAM and the Battery Regulation may each apply, depending on your size, sites and activities.
• The ACM supervises the market, can impose orders and fines, and decides disputes with grid operators.

Frequently asked questions