Invest-NL and Kennedy Van der Laan launch toolkit for the establishment of energy hubs

Invest-NL and law firm Kennedy Van der Laan have jointly developed a legal toolkit that makes it easier and more cost-effective for companies to establish an energy hub. Through energy hubs, companies can collaborate on sustainability efforts and share scarce grid capacity, resulting in more efficient use of the overloaded electricity grid.

The overflowing electricity grid is a major problem for both economic growth and the energy transition and is therefore high on the political agenda. The capacity of the grid cannot keep up with the energy transition, partly because companies are investing rapidly in sustainability measures, such as electrification of processes and logistics and in the generation of solar energy. A group of companies can coordinate with the grid operator to make agreements via an energy hub about making smarter use of the available capacity. Companies in the hub coordinate their energy consumption and electricity production and, as a group, offer flexibility during peak periods, thereby contributing to reducing grid congestion.

Legal toolkit as a tool

The legal templates now made available for the first time by Invest-NL and Kennedy Van der Laan, in collaboration with N/P Notarial Partners, enable companies with a shortage or excess of grid capacity to establish an energy hub. The toolkit provides companies with legal tools to make mutual agreements when a group contract is concluded with the grid operator to jointly use and invest in sustainability measures, for example in energy storage. The financing for such investments is often too costly for a single company but becomes accessible collectively. Companies can download the toolkit for free via the Invest-NL website.

Oene Venema, energy transition expert at Bedrijventerreinaanpak.nl: “Practical examples and templates for contracts are very important for industrial estates because legal knowledge is often lacking. During various pilots by Liander, with support from Invest-NL, we have successfully used the draft version of the legal toolkit. This toolkit supports industrial estates in implementing technical innovations and thus accelerates the energy transition.”

Scaling up energy hubs for LAN objectives

The government aims, together with grid operators, to expand the electricity network and make better use of existing capacity – for example via energy hubs – through the National Action Program for Grid Congestion (LAN). Several operational energy hubs already exist in the Netherlands, including in the port of Amsterdam. There, grid operator Liander and a group of companies led by the Port of Amsterdam earlier this year agreed on how they can share surpluses and shortages of electricity. Liander has started rolling out group contracts on a small scale this year, and they expect to scale this up next year.

André Simonse, Business Owner Energy Hubs at Alliander: “At Alliander, we are pleased with such legal tools because they are supplementary to group contracts to ensure mutual agreements between companies. Sector-wide, a National Knowledge Platform will be available by the end of this year, where such tools, documents, or services from market parties are linked to each step from initiation to realisation. A valuable addition.”

Accelerating the energy transition

Invest-NL aims to accelerate the energy transition by removing financing bottlenecks. Diederik Apotheker, theme lead electrification at Invest-NL, emphasizes the importance of the legal toolkit: “Companies are responsible for half of the CO2 emissions of the built environment, but the sustainability of industrial estates is stalled due to a lack of grid capacity. To accelerate the energy transition, we need to use existing infrastructure more intelligently. We saw an opportunity to provide a concrete solution for companies willing to collaborate by developing this legal toolkit.”

Astrid Sixma, Partner IT and Energy Transition at Kennedy Van der Laan: "In recent years, we have supported frontrunners SADC and Port of Amsterdam in establishing energy hubs and entering into group contracts with Liander. By providing this legal toolkit, we can now share our expertise broadly with future energy hubs. We are happy to contribute to creating practical tools for the urgent issue of grid congestion and, more broadly, to innovative solutions that can stimulate the energy transition."

Download the toolkit

Below you will find the legal toolkit for energy hubs. More information about the legal toolkit for energy hubs can be found on the website of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.