--- title: "TenneT monitors the Netherlands power grid; 1.3 GW drop." sdDatePublished: "2026-08-12T11:23:00Z" source: "https://www.tennet.eu/nl-en/news/netherlands-watches-solar-eclipse-tennet-monitors-power-grid" topics: - name: "electricity" identifier: "medtop:20000260" - name: "solar power" identifier: "medtop:20001209" - name: "renewable energy" identifier: "medtop:20000257" locations: - "Portugal" - "Spain" - "Netherlands" --- TenneT monitors the Netherlands power grid; 1.3 GW drop. The Netherlands watches the solar eclipse, TenneT monitors the power grid The Netherlands watches the solar eclipse, TenneT monitors the power grid A cosmic spectacle, a natural phenomenon, a one-two between the sun and the moon. Whilst the Netherlands can watch the solar eclipse live on Wednesday evening – wearing special eclipse glasses – out on the streets, operators in TenneT’s national control room will observe the same phenomenon, but in the form of data on large screens. There, they will see how the Dutch high-voltage grid is also affected by the eclipse. ‘It’s as if the sun is suddenly setting earlier.’ The fascinating celestial spectacle begins at 7.10 pm and ends around 9.03 pm. Over the Netherlands, almost ninety per cent of the sun disappears behind the moon. The loss of sunlight will not go unnoticed in TenneT’s control room: operators see the output from countless solar panels drop. This requires precise management of the electricity system to ensure that supply and demand remain in balance and the power supply stays safe and reliable. ‘Preparations for this solar eclipse began nine months ago,’ says Wouter Krajenbrink of TenneT. As a Systems & Markets Process Specialist, he works with electricity generators to keep the electricity system in balance. And thus to keep the Netherlands ‘powered on’. ‘A solar eclipse is easy to predict. Together, we look at a lot of data, including weather forecasts and information about the last solar eclipse on 29 March last year. That was a partial eclipse in the middle of the day. Now we’re seeing an almost total eclipse, but in the evening. It will seem as though the sun is setting earlier.’ Solar panels capture less light The impact of the eclipse on renewable electricity generation here is manageable due to the late hour. Wouter: ‘The Netherlands has 30 gigawatts of peak solar PV capacity installed, equal to the electricity consumption of millions of households. Generated capacity always drops significantly in the evening, as the sun sets. And now the lunar eclipse is adding to that. As soon as the moon passes in front of the sun and solar panels capture less sunlight, an estimated 1.3 gigawatts of generated capacity is lost within a short space of time. That is manageable.’ To keep the system in balance, TenneT works together with market participants such as TTEP. TTEP is a generator and supplier that also provides balancing and emergency power, enabling grid operators to maintain balance on the high-voltage grid. Market participants also take the solar eclipse into account and adjust their generation accordingly. If this goes well, the market will keep supply and demand in balance and TenneT will not need to step in. In this way, TenneT and market participants ensure a reliable electricity supply, even during a solar eclipse. Grid operators in southern Europe have more work to do, for example in Spain and Portugal, where the solar eclipse will be total and where electricity also accounts for a much larger share of the energy mix. Because the European electricity system is highly interconnected, this also requires us to be vigilant. TenneT is therefore taking no risks whatsoever. So do the colleagues in the control room really have no time on Wednesday evening to watch the cosmic spectacle for themselves – wearing special eclipse glasses? ‘No,’ is the answer. ‘A solar eclipse is predictable, but we never underestimate it. The data and the safety of the national electricity system always come first.’ At TenneT, we monitor security of supply. We do this in three ways.