Episode 11 - Deploying fast-charging hubs in the Netherlands - challenges, opportunities & solutions

What Europe's Most Grid-Constrained EV Market Can Teach Us

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The Netherlands is one of the world's most mature EV charging markets. It has the highest density of public chargers in Europe and has been at the forefront of transport electrification for years. Yet this success has created a new challenge: grid congestion.

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As electricity demand grows faster than grid expansion, Charge Point Operators (CPOs), utilities, and energy providers are being forced to rethink how charging infrastructure is designed and operated. Instead of relying solely on larger grid connections, the industry is increasingly turning to smart charging, battery storage, and energy management to unlock additional capacity.

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In this special webinar edition of The Charge Point Podcast, Christophe Lephilibert brings together Peter Hermans, former CTO of Stedin and power transmission consultant, Sjors Geraedts, Business Developer at iWell, Bart de Groot, Senior Product Manager at Fudura (now Electra), and Robert Brehm, CTO and Co-Founder of FLEXECHARGE. Together, they discuss how one of Europe's most advanced EV markets is responding to severe grid congestion and what other countries can learn from the Dutch experience.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

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The Dutch market offers valuable lessons for CPOs, utilities, policymakers, and infrastructure developers facing growing grid constraints across Europe.

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Key learnings:

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• Why grid congestion has become one of the biggest barriers to expanding EV charging infrastructure in the Netherlands and increasingly across Europe.
• How EV smart charging and grid-aware charging strategies help maximize existing network capacity without compromising the charging experience.
• Why battery energy storage systems (BESS) are becoming essential for deploying fast-charging hubs where additional grid capacity is unavailable or delayed.
• How load management enables multiple high-power chargers to operate within limited grid connections by intelligently distributing available power.
• Why collaboration between DSOs, CPOs, energy storage providers, and energymanagement specialists is critical for accelerating electrification despite grid limitations.
• How the Dutch approach to grid flexibility is providing a blueprint for other European markets preparing for large-scale electrification.