Our mission and strategy

We stand for an energy supply system where everyone has access to reliable, affordable and renewable energy on equal terms. This is the social mission that we work to achieve every day. We make sure the lights are on, homes are heated and businesses can keep operating, not just today, but in a sustainable tomorrow too. 

Our mission: being reliable, affordable and accessible

Through our cables and pipes, over three million Dutch households and companies are supplied with electricity, gas and heating. We manage about 97,000 km of electricity grid and 42,000 km of gas grid. Our grids are among the most reliable in the world. Our colleagues work hard day and night to achieve this.

Reliability

Our customers need to have access to energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in line with the highest possible safety and continuity standards. This is what drives us to put safety first in our working practices and try to avoid planned and unplanned energy outages wherever possible.

Affordability

We want our customers to pay as little as possible for their reliable energy supply, and so we work ceaselessly every day to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our operations.

Accessibility

Our customers need to be able to make their own energy choices. This is why we enable customers to choose their own supplier and service providers, and to feed power back into the grid. Plus, we actively help customers switch to sustainable forms of energy.

Our strategy

The Dutch government has decided that our country must be climate neutral in 2050. In other words, our greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 will not exceed what is being sequestered. This means that, by 2030, the Netherlands must already emit 55% less greenhouse gases than in 1990. The target has actually been set higher, at 60%. Among other things, this will require a high degree of electrification in society, new forms of energy generation, alternatives for natural gas and all the associated infrastructural modifications. Apart from expanding and upgrading existing networks, this calls for a fundamental change to how the energy system is designed, constructed, used and managed. The current rate at which the energy networks are being modified is not in line with what is required. Compared to 2023, financial investments in our network rose again, but not by as much as we would like. In addition, there were longer waiting times for new connections and network upgrades. This has a high impact on society and various tasks, such as housing construction and achieving sustainability.

Our seven strategic pillars

Our goal is to offer customers timely solutions that fit within an affordable and reliable energy system, both today and in the future. Our expansions, upgrades and modifications make improved sustainability and development in the Netherlands possible and enable us to work towards further acceleration thereof. Our strategy is based on intensive collaboration with the government, provincial authorities, municipalities, other network companies, the industry, companies, citizens and other relevant parties that influence the energy infrastructure in the Netherlands.

Strategic priorities

Within the seven strategic pillars, we maintain a strong focus on the following priorities:

• Further upscaling of the activities needed to reinforce and expand the networks: build, build, build.

• Encouraging more flexible use of the electricity grid.

• Further improving communication with users and partners in the energy system.

1. Excellent management: optimising maintenance and improving customer services

We service our networks smartly and efficiently, and we are a reliable partner for our customers and society. We communicate openly and proactively to ensure that they know what to expect in terms of completing infrastructure in their area, what the waiting times are, but also what alternative solutions would be if we are unable to fulfil all their wishes straight away. We make sure that we resolve and prevent faults, questions and complaints in a timely and targeted manner. Our work is customer-oriented and we ensure that our customers and partners have easy access to the required information to make choices that match their needs and fit within an affordable and reliable energy system.

2. Reducing demand for transmission capacity

We help our customers to make choices that limit the demand for transmission capacity. This cuts their energy bills and at the same time ensures that scarce labour and space can be used in the most effective way possible. It is important here that clear choices are made about which energy solutions are implemented at each location and at each point in time. For companies this provides clarity, and it gives network operators certainty about when and where certain infrastructure should be built. The space required for transformer substations and main stations can be purchased in a timely manner and schedules for various infrastructural modifications can be agreed and coordinated with the local stakeholders in each area. It is important here that energy infrastructure is given a more prominent position in spatial planning and in the plans that are drawn up for places like residential areas and industrial parks. This requires provincial and municipal coordination and clear choices, down to the district or neighbourhood level. That allows us to deploy people and resources in a targeted manner, avoid unnecessary investments and speed up unavoidable modifications to the energy infrastructure. Our efforts are also aimed at helping customers reduce their energy demand, together with partners and smart innovations, with solutions such as insulation or smart appliance controls that can also be used behind a company’s or home’s energy connection. And we are working with the construction industry on new design principles for building new homes with much lower energy requirements.

3. Making better use of the network

In almost all of the Netherlands, the electricity grid is (nearly) full. By making better use of the network, we want to connect more customers in the years to come. This is why we are digitising the networks, which gives us more insight and control options, and allows us to handle the available network capacity with greater flexibility anywhere and at any given time. We are increasing the load on the network, but safely. Rather than focusing on contracts based on peak demand a few times a year, we are working towards flexible use and the relevant contracts. This requires new rules and incentives. Examples include tariffs that vary in level at any point in time and simultaneously safeguard the general affordability and reliability of the energy system. In the past, we mainly focused on medium-sized and large companies, but in 2024 we launched several pilot programmes and projects to help consumers with flexible energy usage.

Our organisation, people, systems and working methods are the foundation that supports implementation of our strategy.

4. Completing more work

The completion of network expansions and upgrades is our highest priority. Alliander is adopting a steering and much more explicit role in local, regional and national spatial planning and spatial allocations for electricity, (green) gas and heat, in order to create clarity about the future energy system in a timely manner, thereby increasing levels of support and development speeds. In concrete terms, this means that we will no longer wait for customers and public authorities to make their choice, but rather proactively specify the optimum urban planning ourselves for the energy system down to district or area level, and present those plans to the relevant public authorities. In addition, we want to work with public authorities to shape the final urban planning choices and, on this basis, establish a long-term implementation schedule (8 quarters + 8 years). We actively and systematically support public authorities in the task of agreeing and coordinating the intended energy system plans with residents and businesses in order to accelerate acceptance and implementation. We also actively help them obtain all the permits required at the district or area level in a timely manner (for example, by providing teams on secondment). On the basis of a ‘district-by-district and area-by-area’ approach, we are upgrading complete districts or areas in a single intervention and starting these works in places where – in accordance with the schedule – the preconditions, such as the required permits and space, are in place and available on time. We are also working on long-term collaboration models with contractors and suppliers. And we are optimising the scheduled deployment of scarce capacity using Artificial Intelligence. We are increasing the available number of technicians by making engineering more appealing in the sector and by making the influx from other sectors easier. We are shortening training periods and investing in outsourcing extensive work packages together with contractors to make optimum use of the capacity in the sector. Furthermore, we are focusing on allowing customers to making use of local installers to perform part of the work themselves.

5. Sharing data and developing new market services

Proactively making data and services available ensures that the energy market can function properly, customers can make choices beneficial to the network and we can balance supply and demand on a local level. Between now and 2030 we will be making (more) asset and customer data available and offering it to customers, so that they can control their own energy usage and make independent optimisation choices.

6. Developing infrastructure for heating and sustainable gases

Hydrogen and green gas are going to play an important role in our energy system, especially in industry. We are using the existing gas grid to distribute these gases and keep the energy system affordable. We are adding more green gas to the gas grid and making sure that it reaches the users. Starting in 2026, we will additionally invest in new hydrogen networks for industry, such as the networks in Deventer and later in the Port of Amsterdam. In addition, we are constructing more district heating networks, both for existing buildings and new construction. We are working together with public authorities and companies to provide complete solutions, from design to management. We do this in neighbourhoods where it makes sense to use district heating networks and where a local heat source is present. This allows quick and large-scale use of sustainable heat and at the same time reduces the load on the power grid.

7. Future-proof foundations

Our organisation, our people, our working methods and our systems make up the foundations for implementing the aforementioned strategies. In the years to come, we will be investing in things like an integrated focus on results in the end-to-end value chains with our partners. We are agile and effective, and have a culture that prioritises safety, results, cost awareness, sustainability and inclusion. We are investing in an IT landscape and digitisation to provide maximum support for the upscaling of our work, the flexibilisation of our network and communication with and solutions for our customers, partners and stakeholders.