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Your energy bill isn’t just determined by how much electricity you use. It’s also determined by when you use it. More precisely: by the highest power draw you register in any fifteen-minute interval. That single peak, sometimes lasting no more than a quarter of an hour per day, partly sets your transport tariff for the entire month. Peak shaving is the practice of capping that peak. And the difference on your invoice is larger than most businesses expect.

TL;DR

Peak shaving sounds like a technical exercise. In practice, it’s one of the fastest routes to structurally lower energy costs without reducing your consumption. The key: controlling your power peak rather than accepting it.

  • Grid operators charge based on your highest quarter-hour peak per month, not your average consumption. A single spike sets the tone for your entire bill.
  • For a mid-sized industrial site, the extra costs from uncontrolled peaks easily exceed €10,000 per year on the kW-max component of the transport tariff alone.
  • Battery storage, staggered start-up sequences, and dynamic EV charge management can structurally reduce that peak.
  • Peak shaving becomes especially relevant during grid congestion: if your connection can’t be upgraded, intelligent control is the only route to growth.

The businesses that control their peak pay structurally less. Those that leave it unchecked pay the price every quarter of an hour.

Why your power peak costs more than you think

Most businesses look at their energy consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh). That makes sense, because it’s the number on the electricity bill. But for businesses with a large-consumer connection (above 3 x 80 ampere in the Netherlands), there’s a second cost driver on the invoice: the transport tariff based on power capacity.

Grid operators like Enexis, Stedin and Liander don’t just charge for total energy consumed. They also charge for the maximum power you draw in any quarter-hour interval: the so-called kW-max. The higher that peak, the higher your monthly transport costs.

On top of that, there’s the contracted transport capacity (GTV in Dutch): the maximum power you’ve agreed with the grid operator. If you consistently exceed it, the operator can raise your contract level. A higher contract means a higher fixed cost, month after month.

What is peak shaving?

Peak shaving is the practice of actively capping your power peak. Your total energy consumption stays the same, but you spread it more evenly over time. The result: a lower kW-max, lower transport costs, and more headroom on your connection.

There are several ways to do this.

  • Battery storage is the most direct method. You charge a battery during off-peak hours and deploy it the moment consumption threatens to spike. The battery delivers temporary power, keeping your grid draw within limits. This is the most effective form of peak shaving at sites with predictable peaks.
  • Staggering start-up sequences works well in production environments. By preventing large consumers from starting simultaneously, you spread the power draw over time. A compressor, welding robot, and production line all starting within the same quarter-hour create a combined peak that wouldn’t exist if staggered. We cover this in more depth in our blog on peak demand in manufacturing.
  • Dynamic charge management plays a growing role. Businesses with EV charging infrastructure find that charging contributes significantly to the power peak. With smart charging, you shift charging sessions to moments of lower demand without vehicles failing to be ready on time.

  • Flexibly curtailing non-critical loads such as HVAC systems or heating provides additional headroom. Not everything needs to run at full capacity all the time.

The calculation: what does peak shaving actually save?

Let’s make it concrete with a representative example. We take a mid-sized manufacturer with a medium-voltage connection (MS-D category) in the Enexis grid area, based on official 2026 tariffs.

Starting situation:

  • Contracted transport capacity (GTV): 500 kW
  • Average operational consumption: 350 to 400 kW
  • Actual peak power (kW-max) without control: 700 kW in the busiest months, caused by simultaneous start-up of production equipment, compressors, and EV charging

kW-max costs without peak shaving:
The Enexis kW-max tariff for the MS-D category is €3.66 per kW per month (excl. VAT). At a kW-max of 700 kW, that’s 700 x €3.66 = €2,562 per month, or €30,744 per year in kW-max costs alone.

kW-max costs with peak shaving:
If a combination of battery storage, staggered start-ups, and dynamic charge management brings the peak down to 500 kW, you pay 500 x €3.66 = €1,830 per month, or €21,960 per year.

Savings on kW-max alone: €8,784 per year.

That’s just the kW-max component. If your peak stays structurally below your contracted capacity, you also prevent the grid operator from raising your contract level. A GTV increase from 500 to 700 kW would, at Enexis MS-D rates (€28.91 per kW per year), add €5,782 per year in structural costs.

The total potential saving in this example: over €14,000 per year. For larger connections or sites with multiple assets, this scales linearly.

Why peak shaving is especially urgent during grid congestion

Across large parts of the Netherlands, the electricity grid is full. Grid operators are placing businesses on waiting lists for capacity upgrades, sometimes for years. For businesses looking to grow, electrify, or install additional charging infrastructure, that’s a direct brake.

Peak shaving offers a way out. By lowering your power peak, you create headroom on your existing connection without requesting a grid upgrade. You can connect more assets, run more production, or charge more vehicles, all within the same contract.

In some cases, peak shaving makes the difference between being able to expand and being stuck. Not as a temporary workaround, but as a structural part of your energy strategy.

More on grid congestion and what you can do about it in our blog on grid congestion.

From isolated measures to integrated control

A battery that doesn’t know when the compressor is starting can’t prevent the peak. EV chargers disconnected from the production process create new peaks at inconvenient moments. Individual measures help, but they only reach their full potential when controlled as one system.

What you need is an energy management system (EMS) that combines all energy flows: production, storage, generation, charging. A single system that, based on real-time data and a forecast of what’s coming, determines when the battery discharges, when charging starts, and when production can be staggered.

Tibo EMS does exactly that. It connects solar panels, batteries, EV chargers, and industrial consumers in a single control layer. The difference from conventional systems: Tibo EMS recalculates a complete control schedule every five minutes for the next 48 hours, based on real-time consumption data, energy prices, and weather forecasts. The system anticipates peaks before they occur and proactively steers the battery, charging, and production assets. No fixed rules, but continuous optimisation that adapts to what’s actually happening on your site.

The result at energy-intensive sites: up to 60% lower energy costs, structurally lower peak tariffs, and more control over the grid connection.

Curious what peak shaving could save at your site? Request a simulation and we’ll run the numbers based on your consumption profile.

Frequently asked questions about peak shaving

Peak shaving specifically targets reducing your highest power peak. Load shifting is broader: moving consumption to cheaper hours. In practice they overlap, because shifting consumption often lowers the peak as well. A good EMS combines both strategies.

Not necessarily. Staggering start-up sequences and dynamic charge management can already make a significant difference. But a battery makes peak shaving most effective, because it can deliver power directly at the moment a peak threatens. The combination delivers the strongest result.

That depends on your consumption profile, the size of your peaks, and your tariff category with the grid operator. In the worked example in this blog, a mid-sized manufacturer saves over €14,000 per year. Larger sites with more assets save proportionally more. A simulation based on your own data gives the most accurate picture.

Not when controlled properly. The goal isn’t to use less energy, but to distribute consumption more intelligently. With an EMS that controls production, storage, and charging in unison, you won’t notice a thing operationally.

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