The Netherlands keeps its capacity market on schedule: first auction in 2028, for winter 2029–2030

The Dutch Minister for Climate and Green Growth, Stientje van Veldhoven-van der Meer, sent a letter to the House of Representatives on 3 November on the progress of the capacity mechanism. The government wants the first auction to take place in 2028, for delivery year 2029–2030, with transmission system operator TenneT acting as central buyer.

What was decided. Through annual auctions, controllable power plants, storage facilities and consumers able to reduce demand will receive a fixed payment on top of their market revenues, covering part of their fixed costs. According to the letter, the mechanism should reduce the risk of scarcity and dampen price peaks.

The figures. TenneT has published a corrigendum to its Security of Supply Monitor 2026 after a modelling error: the expected number of hours per year with an electricity shortfall is lower for 2028, 2033 and 2035, but unchanged for 2030. The standard of four hours of shortfall per year is still exceeded from 2030.

The timeline. The legal basis is the Electricity Market Design bill, submitted on 7 July 2026. A first version of the design is expected in December, consultation on the regulations in the second quarter of 2027, and the market reform plan was submitted to the European Commission in September. The Commission's opinion is expected in early 2027, and the government is aiming for state aid approval in the third quarter of 2027. To avoid depending on the European process, regulator ACM will set the value of lost load (VoLL) nationally through an independent study.

Who pays. Costs will reach consumers through network tariffs: those who consume more during scarcity hours pay more. For small connections, the government is seeking alignment with the time-dependent transport tariffs now being developed. The minister writes that the plan is ambitious but on track; the next update is due in the first quarter of 2027.

Real-time data for the country is on the country page