The world around us
With its energy networks and activities, Alliander operates at the heart of society. The dynamics of the world around us and the interdependencies that exist require us to understand clearly which factors influence our mission. As an organisation, we anticipate this and adjust our strategy and choices where necessary. The key trends and developments that affect us, our customers, partners and society are outlined below.
International stage: growing uncertainty calls for strategic autonomy to cope with the effects of international tensions
Alliander’s international context remained highly dynamic in 2025. Increasing geopolitical tensions and shifts in the world order are making international collaboration more complex and can distract attention from achieving climate goals. At the same time, the energy transition remains of paramount importance: for the climate, and also for the energy independence and strategic autonomy of the Netherlands. The European Union has therefore made a strong commitment to reducing dependencies in the areas of energy, raw materials and industry, through the Clean Industrial Deal and other programmes. With REPowerEU, Europe is working towards completely phasing out the imports of Russian energy.
Globally though, climate policy continues to fall short of what is needed. The world is not on track for meeting the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement, and the chances of limiting global warming to 1.5°C have dwindled to almost zero. Weather extremes such as heat waves, floods and severe storms are becoming increasingly common and are clearly exacerbated by climate change. The impact in the Netherlands has remained relatively limited so far, however the likelihood and consequences of extreme weather events are expected to increase. Alliander is preparing for this by adapting the design and management of its networks, operations and troubleshooting organisation where necessary.
Energy may seem to be something you can take for granted, but escalations in international tensions or cyber incidents are increasing the likelihood of complex disruptions. Across the board, we are intensifying our preparedness where necessary to ensure that we do everything possible together with the emergency services in these situations to quickly limit the consequences. The importance of resilience was also highlighted during the NATO summit in The Hague. Member States are aiming for a defence spending norm of 5% of GDP, of which 1.5% can be used for critical infrastructure. This is also expected to include the energy supply. The Netherlands is committed to meeting this standard, which may open up additional financing opportunities for infrastructure.
Society: call to politicians to facilitate breakthroughs, aggression due to negative sentiments
It is important for the energy supply that the new government attempts to achieve a good balance between making the energy system more resilient and ensuring affordability and a fair distribution of costs. Prior to the elections for the House of Representatives and during the formation of the new government, we highlighted the interests of the sector with a call for breakthroughs in the energy system: a diverse energy mix, sufficient legal options to make better use of the existing grid, encouraging customers to save energy and use it more intelligently, choices in spatial planning and an approach to address the shortage of technicians.
Alliander is being confronted by a negative sentiment in society. Aggression is becoming more common, including verbal and physical violence or threats against Alliander’s employees, both by telephone, online and in the field. Employees are trained internally in this regard, and at the same time we continue to speak out against the normalisation of unacceptable behaviour.
Energy system: navigating between ambition and reality
The Dutch energy system is changing. Some developments are unfolding rapidly (e.g. the number of households with solar panels and electric cars), but others, such as decarbonisation of industry and rolling out district heating networks, are progressing more slowly than the target agreed when the Climate Agreement was signed in 2019. Natural gas remains a significant fuel in the context of the transition. This is partly due to grid congestion, the lag in implementing the heating transition in the built environment and the slow roll-out of alternatives such as hydrogen and green gas feed-in to the existing natural gas network. Due to the risk of delays in implementation, the government has lowered the target for offshore wind energy generation for 2040 from 50 GW to 30–40 GW. With the Dutch Offshore Wind Action Plan and the Electrification Action Agenda for Industry, steps are being taken to maintain progress. At Alliander, we anticipate uncertainty and contribute to decision-making that brings the Netherlands further.
Customer: outlook and scope for sustainable growth
Our customers want clarity, a reliable outlook and affordable energy. Business customers seek certainty in order to grow and become more sustainable. Consumers want to keep their energy costs under control. At the same time, uncertainty is increasing and their options for action are reducing. More than ever, grid congestion, connection waiting times and rising costs are making it difficult for businesses and consumers to plan investments.
These worries are particularly rife in industry. The European Commission's Draghi Report (2024) warns that European competitiveness is structurally weakened by high energy prices, taxes, lower productivity and the innovation gap. It calls for substantial and rapid investment in energy, digitalisation, defence and infrastructure. The Wennink report (2025) is the Dutch response to this analysis: it shows that the Netherlands has the same structural stragglers and, moreover, is not achieving enough economic growth. Wennink identifies energy and climate technology as a crucial sector and notes that basic preconditions, such as a smooth permit issue process, nitrogen emissions capacity, grid capacity, energy costs, the availability of talent, regulatory pressure, spatial planning and innovation ecosystems, are not in order or even deteriorating. His advice is to invest in a targeted and substantial manner, and to fundamentally improve the enabling conditions. This would put the Netherlands in a position to achieve its objectives.
Although the previous government announced measures in its Green Growth Package that were designed to offer prospects for industry and limit energy costs, the situation in reality remains problematic: the tailor-made approach for the most energy-intensive industries is only yielding results for a few companies. Many large industrial players are postponing major investments in sustainability due to the lack of options for action open to them and excessive risks in their business case.
Another social issue that has a significant impact on our customers is housing. A shortage of affordable and suitable homes affects broad groups of consumers in society and leads to the postponement of important choices in life. This is an issue that fuels social tension. Approximately 100,000 homes need to be built each year. In 2025, there were only about 77,000 home completions. Over the past year, a nationwide breakthrough strategy was launched: the national government, provincial and municipal authorities, market parties and corporations made agreements with the aim of accelerating housing construction in 24 locations. Liander is preparing for this.
Making the heat supply system in the built environment more sustainable also remains a challenge. Although (hybrid) heat pumps are becoming more popular among households, there has also been an increase in the number of natural gas-fired central heating boilers installed. The new Collective Heating Supply Act provides clarity on the market organisation of district heating networks. Making homes more sustainable requires their use.
Regional collective solutions can also work effectively to achieve better alignment between supply and demand. The number of examples of successful energy hubs is increasing. More and more customers are willing to use energy more flexibly.
Energy affordability: rising investments and tariffs
The Dutch network operators are facing a huge investment task. Research shows that for the period from 2025 to 2040, the investment requirement will amount to approximately €210 billion, of which €103 billion is for onshore electricity grids and €85 billion for offshore grids. These investments have a delayed effect on the tariffs. This means that, without intervention, network prices for electricity are expected to double or even triple by 2040. Partly as a result of this, the affordability of energy will become a serious problem for households, some of which are already struggling due to energy poverty. It also has an impact on the investment climate, particularly for energy-intensive companies and industries. Geopolitical tensions, developments in the energy markets, policy regulations and shifting tax incentives are making access to energy more expensive.
Network operators are working with authorities and other partners on measures to limit the rise in costs and, consequently, tariffs. By using energy more intelligently and making better use of the grid, we can facilitate the same developments with a reduced investment requirement. The ‘Smart choices for an affordable and robust energy system’ report by Netbeheer Nederland shows that less new capacity will be needed if grid usage during peak times is reduced and existing infrastructure is used more effectively. Calculations by Netbeheer Nederland indicate that maximum application of that approach could lead to savings of up to 30% of the planned investments. This is only possible by implementing a systematic change and if society, citizens and businesses use the available energy and grid capacity more wisely. So we are working on proposals for changes to the tariff systems and rules for energy transmission, which will allow better use to be made of the available capacity and thus create more opportunities for customers who are currently waiting for a connection or for an upgrade. We are working increasingly closely and in a more area-focused manner with public authorities on spatial, energy and infrastructure projects. Only by making targeted choices together about how we will use energy differently in the future can we keep the system affordable.
Structural scarcity: nitrogen emissions, labour and space
One important issue where a breakthrough is needed is the limit on nitrogen emissions. Due to differing political views, solutions remain elusive and the permit processes for spatial developments remain slow. The nitrogen emissions issue also has an impact on our projects. We are implementing various measures to ensure that the projects can proceed. In line with our objectives regarding clean and emission-free construction, we are working on adopting construction methods that use electricity to the greatest possible extent to eliminate emissions. That is why, in the short term, we are also focusing on capturing nitrogen emissions and conducting a preliminary ecological assessment. The European Commission has presented a proposal to remove obstacles, such as the ban on temporary nitrogen emissions, which stand in the way of expanding and upgrading energy networks. However, the proposal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and then implemented in the Netherlands.
Labour market tightness is a major social issue and also one of the biggest challenges facing Alliander. The population is ageing, and the intake into technical education is not adequate to cover requirements. This applies to us, our partners and companies in other sectors. We are responding to this by broadening our recruitment activities and improving accessibility for different intake profiles (from lateral entrants and refugees with a residence permit to skilled workers from abroad, even though current political policy limits us in terms of the latter aspect). We are investing in training and coaching capacity and collaborate across the sector to train talent faster and smarter. In order to retain employees, we are focusing strongly on career pathways, opportunities for development and other incentives. In addition, we are committed to building an inclusive culture, promoting multilingualism and adopting modern employment practices, so that more people choose a career in engineering and can start working in the energy transition.
The Netherlands is increasingly being held back by the effects of insufficient decision-making regarding physical space and deferred choices in this regard in the living environment. The accumulation of urgent tasks, from housing construction and the energy transition to climate adaptation, nature recovery and infrastructure, simply no longer fits within the spatial planning constraints. This spatial pressure slows down infrastructure development because projects compete for scarce locations, permits and social acceptance. Energy infrastructure is a particular bottleneck in this regard, both above and below ground. Tough choices are inevitable. The spatial integration of cables, grid stations and substations, heating solutions and energy storage often requires more space than what is available locally. Without clear prioritisation in and decision-making about the allocation of space, actual implementation risks falling short of the objectives. The problem is that frustration about grid congestion is increasing in society, but there is also considerable social resistance when we want to implement infrastructure projects. Our transformer substations and grid stations require physical space and are visible: they have an impact on the living environment or the landscape.
