You want to start charging electric trucks, but the grid operator says no: there is no extra capacity, and you are on the waiting list. In the Netherlands, grid operators could not grant almost 20,000 requests for extra capacity in early 2025. That sounds like the end of the story, but it usually isn't. There are five levers you can pull, and you often combine a few.
1. Use the room you already have
Your contracted capacity is a maximum, but your building rarely uses all of it all day. In the evening and at night, when the trucks are back, there is often plenty of room. So the question is not whether your contract is big enough, but whether there is room in each quarter hour when you want to charge.
A charging system with load balancing shares the available power among the chargers, so the total stays below your contract. Trucks that return at 17:00 then don't all charge at full power at once, but spread over the evening and night. For many depots, that alone is enough. Read how it works in Charging within your contracted capacity.
2. Install a battery
A battery charges at quiet moments and supplies power when your building and trucks together ask too much. That flattens your peaks (peak shaving). With solar panels, it also stores daytime solar power for the evening. An energy management system (EMS) then controls building, solar, battery and chargers together.
A battery is a significant investment. In the Netherlands, the SPRILA scheme covers part of it: € 85 per kWh for SMEs in 2026.
3. Choose a different type of contract
Besides the standard transport right, which gives you full capacity 24 hours a day, Dutch grid operators have offered alternative transport rights since 2025. The most relevant for transport:
- Time-block contracts ("blokstroom"). You only have the right to your capacity in fixed time blocks outside busy hours, and get a discount on grid charges in return. That suits trucks charging at night. The number of these contracts grew from 41 in 2024 to 212 in the first half of 2026.
- Fully variable capacity ("reststroom"). The grid operator tells you a day ahead how much you may draw at what time. Uncertain, and rarely used.
- Capacity limitation contract. You give up some capacity at busy moments in return for a fee. That works if you can shift your charging.
Other countries offer similar flexible connection agreements. What is available to you depends on your grid operator and region. Ask, and check beforehand whether your charging pattern fits the time blocks.
4. Work with your neighbours
On a business park, you can contract one shared capacity together with other companies: a group contract or energy hub. One company uses a lot of power during the day; your trucks charge at night. Together it fits. It requires clear agreements on who may use how much, and when.
5. Look at your trips and charging times
Sometimes the solution is in the planning itself:
- Let trucks that are at the depot during the day charge while the sun shines.
- Charge part of the energy on the road, for example at a fast charger during the break or at the customer.
- Spread return times, so not all trucks arrive at once.
- Don't always charge trucks to 100%, but to what the next day needs plus a buffer.
Start by calculating
Which combination works for you depends on your building, your trips and your connection. With your quarter-hourly data and your trips, you can calculate it. It often turns out that more fits than you think, but sometimes it is tight in just one quarter hour a week.
The Charging Scan calculates it per quarter hour over a full year, with load balancing, a battery or solar, and what each option costs. Also read How many electric trucks fit on your grid connection? and the case studies in Electrifying with a tight grid connection.
Sources: Rabobank, alternative transport rights (Dutch); Solar Magazine, 7 October 2026 (Dutch); RVO, SPRILA.