An energy project for your business, such as solar panels, a battery, an EV charging hub or energy storage, succeeds or fails on grid capacity, contracts, permits, subsidy conditions and reporting duties, not only on technology. The main exception to a smooth start is grid congestion: under the Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026 even a well-designed installation can wait 26 to 52 weeks or longer for a connection.
Table of contents
What do you need to know before you invest?
Start with your own energy profile. Before you invest in solar panels, a battery, charging facilities or a new production line, map out at least:
- your total energy consumption and your peak load
- the connection capacity you need
- any electricity you will feed back into the grid
- your need for flexibility and storage
- the growth you expect for your company
A realistic energy analysis is the basis for the design, the financing and the contracts. The policy context matters too: the European Climate Law (Regulation (EU) 2021/1119) sets the EU target of climate neutrality by 2050, which steers rules for energy, industry, transport and buildings.
When should you check grid capacity?
As early as possible, before you commit to any investment. An energy project often depends on whether the grid operator can actually offer transport capacity. Check in advance:
- which connection you need and how much transport capacity you expect to use
- whether that capacity is available now
- whether your project depends on future grid expansion
Since 1 January 2026, the Dutch Energy Act (Energiewet) and the electricity code adopted under it, the Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026, set the rules for requesting and building connections. For large business connections up to 10 MVA, the realisation period is 26 or 52 weeks depending on complexity, possibly plus a regional waiting time. The grid operator must communicate a final realisation week and keep you informed, and may postpone it in writing only in case of force majeure or circumstances beyond its control.
How do you deal with grid congestion?
With a combination of technical and legal choices. Possible solutions include a different type of connection, energy storage, flexibility services, adjusted production or consumption profiles, local cooperation on a business park and an energy hub.
Every solution raises legal questions: who may use the available capacity, who bears the risk of restrictions, who is responsible for metering data, how costs and revenues are divided, and who is liable if agreements are not honoured. Record these answers in writing before the installation is built.
Why should you follow the grid operator’s investment plan?
Because it shows when and where extra grid capacity is planned. Under the Energieregeling (the Dutch Energy Regulation), a draft investment plan is first put out for consultation, and the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) then reviews the plan within a fixed period.
If your business depends on future grid capacity, monitor the relevant plans, use the consultation to submit your views and keep a record of what you submitted. Once the grid expansion is being carried out, the moment to influence it has passed.
How do you assess the energy contracts?
Assess each contract on its own merits, and then check how they fit together. An energy project often involves a supply agreement, a connection and transport agreement, a flexibility agreement, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and arrangements on feed-in, imbalance and metering data. Pay attention to at least:
- term, renewal, termination and early-termination fees
- price formula and indexation
- securities and guarantees
- liability, delay and force majeure
- metering data and invoicing
- insolvency of the supplier, loss of a permit and grid restrictions
The Energy Act also protects you as an end customer. Under Article 2.6 Energiewet, the supplier must provide a transparent, complete and understandable supply agreement before it is concluded. Under Article 2.8 Energiewet, the supplier must offer a simple internal complaints procedure at no cost to you.
Can a supplier charge a fee if you end a commercial energy agreement early? Yes, if the contract provides for it. On 27 May 2026 the District Court of Oost-Brabant held that such a clause in a three-year agreement with a small business was not unreasonably onerous under Article 6:233(a) of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) (ECLI:NL:RBOBR:2026:3623). The calculation matched the ACM’s guidelines on reasonable early-termination fees for licence holders (Richtsnoeren Redelijke Opzegvergoedingen Vergunninghouders). Check before you sign how a fee is calculated and what risk it creates.
What should a price-change clause say?
It should make the reasons and the calculation of a price change clear in advance. A variable energy contract can have significant financial consequences, so the clause should state when the price may change, which factors drive it, how the change is calculated, when it takes effect and whether you can then terminate.
Whether a general reference to market developments is enough is now before the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad). The advisory opinion of 29 May 2026 in a case between Vattenfall and a consumer discusses the transparency requirements under the EU Unfair Terms Directive 93/13 (ECLI:NL:PHR:2026:541). It is not a ruling, and it concerns a consumer, not a business customer. Have price formulas reviewed financially as well as legally.
What should you record when you switch supplier?
More than the new rate. Record the end date of the old contract, the meter readings, outstanding amounts, any early-termination fee, electricity fed back into the grid and the start date of the new contract.
When the supply agreement ends, the supplier must send you a final settlement (Article 2.13 Energiewet) within six weeks (Article 2.17 Energieregeling). A proper final settlement prevents disputes about consumption, feed-in and outstanding obligations.
What if your metering responsible party drops out?
Then you must contract a new one quickly. For businesses with larger connections, the metering responsible party (meetverantwoordelijke partij) is an essential part of the energy infrastructure.
If that party’s authorisation is changed or withdrawn, the Energiebesluit (the Dutch Energy Decree) gives you short statutory periods to contract a new one. Their length depends on your transport capacity and gas consumption, and they may be extended if the old party goes bankrupt or is granted a suspension of payments. Your continuity plan should name the current party, available alternatives, where your metering data is stored and who verifies and reports.
How do you share energy and flexibility with others?
By agreeing in advance who plays which role and who bears which risk. On a business park or logistics campus, each party’s role must be clear, for example as off-taker, market participant, aggregator, system operator or operator of a closed distribution system (gesloten distributiesysteem).
You also need arrangements on access to installations, ownership of energy and infrastructure, metering data, cost allocation, imbalance costs, outages and liability. A closed distribution system requires a separate authorisation from the ACM, with a statutory decision period in the Energieregeling. Disputes about demand response can, under certain conditions, also be submitted to the ACM (Article 5.5 Energiewet).
Which permits and planning rules apply?
That depends on the location and scale of your project, so investigate it during the design stage. Permits or other decisions under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) may be needed for large-scale generation, energy storage, heat facilities, charging infrastructure, changes to business premises, and cables and pipelines.
At the design stage, find out which decisions you need, who must apply, which deadlines apply, whether objection and appeal are possible, and whether the permit leaves room for future expansion. A project can be technically ready and still not be legally viable.
How do changing climate rules affect your investment?
They can reduce the use or value of an installation, without that automatically giving you a right to compensation. On 30 November 2022 the District Court of The Hague rejected a claim by the owner of the Amer power station against the Dutch State (ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2022:12635).
The court held that the ban on generating electricity from coal interfered with the use of the plant, but did not violate the right to property under Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. It weighed the foreseeability of stricter climate measures, the transition period and proportionality. Base investment decisions on scenarios for stricter emission rules, new reporting duties, ending subsidy schemes and restrictions on operation.
How do you build energy savings and reporting into the project?
Decide at the design stage, not after commissioning, how you will measure and report. Record which data is measured, by which method, who verifies it, which emission factors apply, who reports, how long data is kept and who is responsible for errors.
If you import certain goods, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) needs separate attention. It contains rules on scope, embedded emissions, verification, declarations and certificates (Regulation (EU) 2023/956, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2083).
What should you check before accepting a subsidy?
Check whether you can meet every condition for the full term, not only whether you qualify. A subsidy brings obligations: realisation within a set period, administration, monitoring, reporting, maintenance, inspection, and repayment if you do not comply.
Prepare an overview of the supporting documents, project milestones, reporting moments, responsible staff, inspection powers and the risk of reduction or repayment. Under the General Administrative Law Act (Awb) a subsidy can be lowered or reclaimed if the conditions are not met.
Who supervises compliance?
Mainly the ACM, and for some matters the minister. The ACM is the national regulatory authority for electricity and gas, with tasks in market supervision and dispute resolution (Article 5.1 Energiewet).
The ACM supervises the provisions designated for it (Article 5.17 Energiewet), and the minister supervises other matters (Article 5.18 Energiewet). Possible measures include an order subject to a penalty payment (Article 5.19), a binding instruction (Article 5.20) and an administrative fine (Article 5.21 Energiewet).
What can you do in a dispute with the grid operator?
You can submit a complaint to the ACM, and the ACM’s decision is binding. This applies to disputes about how a system operator performs its statutory tasks or uses its powers, under the conditions of Article 5.4 Energiewet, and it does not rule out other legal remedies.
Your application must include the completed form, your correspondence with the grid operator, including the letter in which you first put the dispute to it, and other relevant documents (Article 3 Werkwijze geschilbeslechting energie, the ACM’s dispute resolution procedure). If it is incomplete, the ACM sets a period to complete it; if you miss it, the complaint may be left unprocessed (Article 5).
The ACM handles the case through a regular, a simplified or a written procedure (Article 8). The simplified procedure applies, for example, when the ACM is clearly not competent or the complaint is clearly unfounded (Article 13). The written procedure is possible when the legal question is clear from the complaint and the response, and little fact-finding is needed (Article 14).
What should you check as a business before you invest?
Answer these questions before the project starts. Together they form a practical legal due-diligence check.
- Is the connection and transport capacity you need available, or does the project depend on grid expansion?
- Which permits and approvals are required, and who applies?
- Which contracts are needed, and who bears the risk of delay, price changes, imbalance and grid restrictions?
- Which data must be measured, kept and reported, including CBAM where relevant?
- Which subsidy conditions apply for the full project term?
- Which file are you building in case talks with the grid operator fail?
What can we do for you with a business energy project?
Our energy lawyers support businesses from the first energy analysis to a dispute before the ACM.
- We review your supply, transport, PPA and flexibility agreements, including price-change and early-termination clauses.
- We structure energy sharing on a business park, including a closed distribution system application to the ACM.
- We map the permits you need and draft objections or appeals.
- We check subsidy conditions and the risk of reduction or repayment.
- We build your file and submit a dispute with your grid operator to the ACM under Article 5.4 Energiewet.
Summary
- Map your energy profile and check grid capacity before you invest; under the Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026 a large connection can take 26 to 52 weeks or more.
- Assess each energy contract separately, with special attention to price-change clauses and early-termination fees.
- Investigate permits, subsidy conditions and reporting duties at the design stage, and plan for stricter climate rules.
- The ACM supervises the energy market and gives a binding decision in a dispute with your grid operator (Article 5.4 Energiewet).
- Build a complete file from day one, so you can act quickly if talks with the grid operator or a supplier fail.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to install a large business connection?
For large business connections up to 10 MVA, the realisation period is 26 or 52 weeks depending on complexity, possibly plus a regional waiting time. In case of force majeure or circumstances beyond the grid operator’s control, it may postpone the period in writing (Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026).
Can I influence the investment plan of the grid operator?
Yes. A draft investment plan is first put out for consultation, after which the ACM reviews the plan within a fixed period (Energieregeling). If your business depends on future grid expansion, follow this consultation actively and submit your views in time.
Do I have to pay a fee if I terminate an energy contract early?
Possibly. The District Court of Oost-Brabant held that a termination clause in a commercial energy agreement was not unreasonably onerous, partly because the calculation was in line with the applicable ACM guidelines (ECLI:NL:RBOBR:2026:3623). Check whether your contract includes a fee, how it is calculated and whether a cap applies.
When do I receive the final settlement?
When the supply agreement ends, the supplier must send you a final settlement (Article 2.13 Energiewet) within six weeks (Article 2.17 Energieregeling).
Does a ban on a fuel or technology automatically give a right to compensation?
No. In ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2022:12635, the District Court of The Hague held that the ban on coal-fired electricity generation did not violate the right to property. Relevant factors included the foreseeability of the measure, the transition period and its proportionality.
