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Your business park has a working EnergyHub on a business park on paper. The technology is ready: solar panels on every roof, a shared battery, chargers for the trucks. But each company is locked into its own transport contract with the grid operator. The sum of those contracts exceeds what the local grid can handle. Result: a waiting list, no additional capacity, no growth.

The groepstransportovereenkomst, or Dutch GTO, breaks that deadlock. It is a Dutch contract model that allows multiple businesses to share a single transport contract with the grid operator. Not based on the sum of individual peaks, but on what the group actually needs at any given moment.

TL;DR

Your energy hub can be technically and organisationally sound, but without the right contract with the grid operator the available capacity remains out of reach. The Dutch GTO is that missing link.

  • Five companies each contracted for 500 kW add up to 2,500 kW. Their actual simultaneous peak is 1,800 kW. A Dutch GTO contracts for that 1,800 kW and frees up 700 kW for growth.
  • From 1 January 2027, grid operators in the Netherlands are required to offer the Dutch GTO as a contract model. The first agreements are already running, including at Kempisch Bedrijvenpark in partnership with Enexis.
  • Every grid operator requires an energy management system (EMS) as a precondition. Without real-time control, you cannot demonstrate that the group stays within its contracted capacity.
  • A Dutch GTO is not a quick fix. You need a legal entity, mutual agreements on allocation and liability, and telemetry on every connection.
  • The previously proposed surcharge of factor 1.21 on grid tariffs was scrapped by the ACM (Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets). There is no premium for the shared contract.

The Dutch GTO turns an energy hub on paper into one that is contractually permitted to operate. Business parks that start now are capturing capacity that would otherwise sit unused for years.

Why individual transport contracts do not work for an energy hub

Every business on a business park signs its own transport agreement with the grid operator by default. That agreement specifies a contracted transport capacity (GTV in Dutch): the maximum number of kilowatts you may draw or feed in at any moment.

The problem lies in the arithmetic. A logistics company peaks in the evening when its trucks charge. The manufacturer next door runs at full capacity during the day. The office across the road peaks around lunch. In practice, almost no one uses their full contracted capacity at the same time. But the grid must account for the theoretical scenario in which everyone does.

A worked example makes the difference clear. Five businesses on a park have each contracted 500 kW. The grid operator reserves 2,500 kW at the local substation. But the highest simultaneous peak of those five businesses combined is 1,800 kW. That means 700 kW is reserved but never used at the same time. Those 700 kW are not available for the sixth company waiting to connect, for the twenty chargers the logistics operator wants to install, or for the battery that would make the hub financially viable.

That is where the Dutch GTO comes in.

Tibo EMS als oplossing voor energiehubs op bedrijventerreinen

How the Dutch GTO works

A Dutch GTO replaces the individual transport contracts with a single shared contract between the group and the grid operator. The grid operator determines the group’s contracted capacity based on a grid planning analysis: the maximum capacity the group may draw or feed in as a whole.

Three things change. Three things stay the same.

  • What changes
    The transport contract becomes collective. The group signs a single agreement with the grid operator through a legal entity (for example, an energy cooperative). The contracted capacity is based on actual simultaneous peaks, not the sum of individual maxima. The group determines internally how the available capacity is used, governed by a mutual agreement.

  • What stays the same
    Each business keeps its own physical grid connection. Each business keeps its own connection agreement. Each business keeps its own energy supplier.

    In the worked example above, the Dutch GTO would set the group capacity at 1,800 kW instead of 2,500 kW. The 700 kW freed up is immediately available. No waiting list, no grid reinforcement.

What you need for a Dutch GTO

A Dutch GTO is not a form you fill in. It is the final piece of a process that starts with collaboration and ends with a working system. The requirements, as described by grid operators such as Enexis and Stedin:

  • Technical: all participants must have a large-scale business connection (above 3 x 80 amperes) and sit behind the same distribution substation. Every connection requires a high-frequency telemetry metering installation.
  • Organisational: the group establishes a legal entity that acts on behalf of all participants towards the grid operator. Think of an energy cooperative or a dedicated company. A mutual agreement is mandatory, covering capacity allocation, liability, and rules for joining and leaving the group.
  • Operational: an energy management system (EMS) that controls in real time, balances generation and consumption, and ensures the group capacity is never exceeded. This is not optional. Every Dutch grid operator sets it as a requirement.

The RVO step-by-step guide for energy hubs (in Dutch) describes the full route from exploration to implementation.

Why an EMS is required for a Dutch GTO

The grid operator assesses upfront whether the group can guarantee that the contracted capacity will not be exceeded. Without a functioning EMS, that guarantee cannot be given.

Stedin puts it this way: an EMS uses intelligent software that coordinates generation, storage, and consumption within the available capacity based on real-time data and control signals. Enexis, Liander, and Coteq apply comparable requirements.

What that means in practice: the EMS must know at every moment how much capacity each participant is drawing, how much the solar panels are producing, how much the battery can contribute, and whether there is room for the next charging session. When the group limit comes into view, the system must intervene automatically. Not in fifteen minutes. Now.

At Kempisch Bedrijvenpark in Bladel, this is exactly how it works. Five businesses were the first to sign a Dutch GTO with Enexis. The group has since grown to eighteen participants. Tibo EMS monitors the contracted group capacity of 5 MW, distributes capacity dynamically across participants, and activates shared assets such as the battery and CHP unit during peak moments.

Cost allocation runs through the ROCC model: a base layer for shared overhead, a trading layer for buying and selling capacity within the hub, and an asset layer for the use of shared hardware. The EMS calculates and invoices this automatically.

Where does the Dutch GTO stand today?

The legal foundation is in place. In December 2025, the ACM published the final ACM code decision that incorporated the Dutch GTO into the Electricity Grid Code. By 1 July 2026 at the latest, grid operators must publish their assessment protocols. From 1 January 2027, they are required to offer the Dutch GTO as a contract model.

The Dutch government is aiming for 20 to 50 Dutch GTOs in 2026 and 30 to 60 in 2027. Those numbers are ambitious. Netbeheer Nederland (the association of Dutch grid operators) warns that the Dutch GTO is a complex product with technical, legal, and organisational preconditions. Business parks that begin preparations now are best positioned to be among the first.

The Dutch GTO may in future be combined with other instruments such as congestion management and alternative transport rights. The Dutch Energy Act, which is being implemented in parallel, strengthens the legal basis for energy hubs.

Is a Dutch GTO right for your business park?

A Dutch GTO is relevant for business parks where multiple large consumers are hitting the limits of their connection, where companies are on a waiting list for additional capacity, or where collective investments in generation and storage only make financial sense if the capacity is contractually shared.

It is not an off-the-shelf solution. The journey from exploration to a functioning Dutch GTO typically takes one to three years. But for parks that are already collaborating or already exploring an energy hub, the Dutch GTO is the contractual link that makes the difference between a good plan and a working system.

Interested in what a Dutch GTO would deliver for your business park? We simulate based on the actual energy profile of your site how much capacity you free up, how much you save, and how quickly the investment pays back. Request a simulation.

Frequently asked questions about the Dutch GTO

With cable pooling, businesses share a physical cable connection. With a Dutch GTO, each business keeps its own physical connection, but the transport contract is shared. A Dutch GTO requires no physical modifications to the grid, only a different type of contract and an EMS that manages the allocation.

The mutual agreement must include rules for withdrawal. The ACM has determined that an optional transition period of up to three years applies. If the Dutch GTO is terminated or a participant leaves, they can fall back on their original individual transport capacity.

The legal entity receives a single invoice for transport usage, based on the group capacity. Connection costs remain per business. The previously proposed surcharge of factor 1.21 was scrapped by the ACM: there is no premium for shared contracting.

At Kempisch Bedrijvenpark, the process took three years from initial concept to a working hub. The timeline depends heavily on the number of participants, legal preparation, and the availability of energy profile data.

Yes, the ACM envisages that the Dutch GTO may in future be combined with instruments such as congestion management and alternative transport rights. The implementation runs in parallel with the Dutch GTO rollout.

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