‘Immediately’ no power connections possible for new-build homes in Almere, the municipality is shocked

New or additional power connections are “immediately no longer possible” for homes in Almere Haven and parts of Almere Center, Stad Oost and Buiten. This is what the municipality of Almere said, which was surprised by this announcement, which was made last Wednesday by the network operators. The development of Almere will be at risk until 2029 if a solution is not found quickly, the municipality says.

“We are shocked and in disbelief,” said councilor Alexander Sprong. “The city is disproportionately affected by this situation.” According to the councilor, the situation of the overcrowded power grid is more serious than expected. He says that the ‘unorthodox’ measures by outgoing Minister Jetten and ‘out-of-the-box’ measures are necessary to bridge the period up to and including 2029 as best as possible.

Last month it became clear that the power supply for new homes in Eastern and Southern Flevoland will be at risk if no space is created on the grid by the end of 2026. Last week’s consultation showed that this immediately applies to Almere, according to the municipality.

This concerns the service area of ​​the Almere substation where there is no longer room for the connections of new houses. There appears to be limited space at the De Vaart and Pampus electricity stations for 6,200 new homes and 1,400 existing homes that can be made natural gas-free, the municipality says.

Not an acute problem
Although the municipality of Almere states that “as of today there is no more space on the electricity grid”, grid operator Tennet emphasizes that houses can still be connected to the electricity grid at the moment. “Regional grid operator Liander has indicated that they will continue to connect new homes that are now being built,” a Tennet spokesperson said.

Disclaimer in grondcontracten
Until now, connecting homes was ‘normal’ possible. If the problem is not resolved, the issuing of land will have to be temporarily stopped until there is more clarity, the municipality of Almere warns. Making houses more sustainable is also becoming a lot more difficult. All contracts for residential plots now include a disclaimer stating that the power grid is full for homes. This already happened for commercial lots.

Last month it became clear that 210 companies in Eastern and Southern Flevoland are on a waiting list for a new power connection. A search was made for electricity for them, but this has not been successful so far.

This is what the municipal council writes:
“It appears that for some parts of Almere (the entire Port and parts of the Center, City East and Outside) there is no longer any room on the electricity grid for new small-scale consumer connections.

This has never happened before in the Netherlands. We are shocked and in disbelief. We feel overwhelmed by the network operators due to this new information.”

Read here the complete letter to the municipal council.