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Smart flexibility for tackling grid congestion

May 7, 2026

Gijs Verhoeven defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Electrical Engineering on May 7.

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Gijs Verhoeven. Photo: Vincent van den Hoogen

As the Netherlands shifts to a low-carbon energy system, technologies like electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar panels are putting increasing pressure on local electricity grids. This PhD research of Gijs Verhoeven reveals a critical insight: while reinforcing the grid alone won’t be enough, activating flexibility within households can significantly reduce congestion. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The effectiveness of flexibility depends heavily on local conditions, coordination between actors, and how smartly different policy instruments are designed and combined.

Dutch neighbourhoods are rapidly electrifying. Households are adopting cleaner technologies at scale, but this shift comes with a downside: electricity demand is becoming more volatile and less predictable. Local distribution grids, originally designed for stable, one-way flows, are now facing peaks they were never built to handle.

The result? Congestion is no longer a future concern—it’s already limiting new connections in many areas. Expanding grid infrastructure is an obvious solution, but in practice it’s slow, expensive, and often constrained by space and workforce shortages.

Flexibility as a hidden resource

This research of explores an alternative: using residential flexibility to better balance the grid. In simple terms, flexibility means shifting when and how electricity is used or generated. Think of charging an electric car at night instead of during peak hours, or coordinating heat pump usage across multiple homes.

The findings show that households, when properly coordinated, can collectively act as a powerful tool to ease congestion. But unlocking this potential requires the right mechanisms—and that’s where things get complex.

Effects of tariff-based instruments

One approach is to influence behaviour through pricing. Time-dependent or peak-based tariffs can encourage households to adjust their energy use. When electricity is more expensive during peak times, users have an incentive to shift consumption.

While effective in theory, the research highlights a key risk: synchronization. If too many households respond to the same price signals in the same way, new peaks can emerge—just at different times. These so-called rebound effects can undermine the intended benefits if tariffs aren’t carefully designed.

Market mechanisms: targeted but demanding

Another strategy involves market-based instruments, where network operators actively procure flexibility from aggregators. These aggregators coordinate groups of households and offer their combined flexibility as a service.

This approach allows for more precise control and can be highly effective in reducing congestion. However, it depends on having enough flexible capacity available and requires sophisticated coordination between multiple actors. Without sufficient participation or reliable aggregation, its impact may be limited.

The power—and complexity—of combining tools

Rather than choosing between tariffs and markets, the research investigates what happens when they are combined. The results are promising: hybrid approaches can enhance performance and provide more robust congestion management.

But this added effectiveness comes at a cost. Combining instruments introduces new operational challenges, including increased system complexity and potential conflicts between signals. Coordination becomes even more critical.

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No single solution for congestion management

Perhaps the most important conclusion is also the most sobering: there is no universal solution to grid congestion. What works in one neighbourhood may fail in another. Factors such as local grid conditions, technology adoption, and household behaviour all play a role.

This means that future strategies must be adaptive and context-aware. Policymakers, regulators, and network operators will need to embrace flexibility—not just in the grid, but in their approaches as well.

Towards a future-proof energy system

By combining technical modelling with realistic behavioural assumptions, this research provides a nuanced understanding of how residential flexibility can support the energy transition. It shows that households are not just passive consumers, but active participants in shaping a resilient electricity system.

The path forward isn’t about choosing a single solution—it’s about orchestrating many.

Read more on the research of Gijs Verhoeven and Bart van der Holst (who defended his dissertation cum laude on February 24) in the article Smarter control helps overloaded power grid.

The research of Verhoeven and Van der Holst has already been covered in several media:

 

Title of PhD thesis: . Supervisors: Prof. Koen Kok, Dr. Phuong Nguyen, and Dr. Johan Morren.

 

Media Contact

Rianne Sanders
(Communications Advisor ME/EE)
J.J.M.Sanders@tue.nl