It has been in the news frequently in recent months: the electricity grid in the Netherlands becomes full at peak times. As a result, solar panels (inverters) automatically switch off especially on sunny days. As a result, the owner of a new home, for example, is temporarily unable to supply energy back to the grid. What does this development mean for a contractor constructing homes with solar panels? A contractor would be wise to avoid unconditional commitments to feed-in electricity. This is not part of his legal obligation and moreover, grid capacity/voltage problems are also not within the contractor's sphere of influence.
Electricity Act
A grid operator is obliged to realize a connection for electricity (up to 10 MVA) within 18 weeks of its application. Section 95c (2) of the Electricity Act stipulates that a so-called licensee (energy supplier) is obliged to accept an offer from a customer to deliver back sustainable electricity produced by him. Section 31c of the Electricity Act contains, in addition to this, the balancing scheme. This means that the energy supplier must deduct the electricity that a customer (small consumer) generates sustainably and delivers back to the grid at the same rate from the electricity that the customer (small consumer) withdraws from the grid. These obligations about connection and feed-in energy rest on the grid operator and energy supplier. Not on the contractor.
Parliamentary questions and answers Minister
In May 2020, in response to the "feed-in problems," Parliamentary questions were posed to the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate (Appendix to Parliamentary Papers 2908, May 26, 2020). According to the minister, grid operators should ensure that individuals and companies are able to deliver self-generated electricity back to the grid within reason. The minister cannot give guarantees because grid operators would then always have to have a heavier grid ready in advance. According to the minister, grid operators must solve problems within a reasonable period of time. What constitutes a reasonable period depends on the scope of the work. In any case, according to the minister, it would not be desirable for grid operators - by analogy with the compensation scheme for disruptions in the supply of electricity - to have to pay a compensation fee if no electricity can be delivered back due to voltage problems. More recently, the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs and Climate has also answered a number of Parliamentary questions on this subject (Appendix to Parliamentary Papers 3870, September 1, 2021). Among other things, the State Secretary confirms that the number of complaints about solar panels switching off automatically due to voltage problems continues to increase.
Contractor's obligation?
According to the minister, if a "feed-in problem" occurs, a customer is not entitled to compensation from the grid operator. This is a setback for, say, the owner of a newly built home with solar panels, but to that extent nothing to worry about for the contractor. Or is it? In practice, with some regularity, the Technical Description/Specifications contains one or more unconditional commitment(s) from the contractor about the feed-in of electricity. This is risky because the contractor has no control over this. The contractor is therefore well advised to include a caveat in the contract documents that clearly states that the feed-in depends on the available grid capacity. The grid operator is responsible for this, not the contractor. It would be even better if the contractor warns the client of a new home of this (local) development prior to the conclusion of the building contract. This can be done by including an additional note in the Technical Description/Specifications, for example. In addition, the contractor can consider contractually limiting his liability in case the feed-in of generated energy is not possible due to insufficient grid capacity.
Point of interest
The now common technical/practical answer to the "feed-in problem" is to relieve the electricity grid at peak times (sunny days). This could include using the battery of an electric car, realizing home storage or installing smart solutions that automatically turn on the dishwasher when there is a surplus of generated energy. The future is going to teach us how this plays out. In any case, it is essential for the contractor of new construction houses to include potential clients in this development and avoid unconditional contractual agreements on electricity feed-in.
