Glossary

Grid connection terms in plain language.

The words you meet in a connection offer, a network tariff or a conversation with your network operator. Names and rules differ by country, so check the definitions in your own agreement.

Article 6a: The article on flexible connection agreements that Directive (EU) 2024/1711 added to the EU Electricity Directive. It asks national regulators to set a framework for flexible connections in areas with limited or no capacity for new connections. Read more →
Behind the meter: Equipment on the customer side of the connection point, such as a battery, solar panels or a generator. What happens behind the meter changes how much the site imports from the grid.
Bridge power: On-site generation that supplies a site until its grid connection is ready or large enough. It can stay as backup once the grid arrives. Read more →
Capacity charge: The part of a network tariff that depends on contracted capacity or on the highest measured peak, rather than on the energy used.
Combined heat and power (CHP): A plant that produces electricity and uses the heat as well, for a process or for heating. Using the heat raises the overall efficiency.
Connection agreement: The contract between a site and its network operator. It sets the capacity the site may use and the conditions for using it.
Connection point: The place where the site’s installation meets the public network. Limits and measurements in the connection agreement apply here.
Connection queue: The list of connection requests waiting for network capacity in an area. The wait depends on the location and on planned reinforcement. Read more →
Contracted capacity: The maximum power a site may draw under its connection agreement. Different countries use different names for it, for example maximum import capacity in Ireland. Read more →
Curtailment: A reduction of import or export that the network operator requires for a period, as allowed by the connection agreement.
Dispatchable generation: Generation that can be switched on and adjusted on request, such as a gas engine. Wind and solar are not dispatchable on their own.
Distribution system operator (DSO): The company that runs the local and regional electricity network. Most factories and many data centres connect to a DSO.
Energy management system (EMS): The system that monitors and controls energy equipment on a site, such as a battery, chargers and generation.
Firm capacity: Capacity the site may use at any time. A flexible connection usually has a firm part and a flexible part.
Flexible connection: A connection agreement in which the network operator may limit the site’s import or export at certain times. In return the site connects sooner or gets more capacity. Also called a non-firm or conditional connection. Read more →
Flexible load: A load that can be reduced or moved in time without harming the process, such as cooling with thermal storage, compressed air with a receiver or vehicle charging.
Grid congestion: A situation in which the network in an area cannot carry more power at certain times. New or larger connections may then have to wait. In the Netherlands it is called netcongestie. Read more →
Import limit: The maximum power a site may draw from the grid at a given moment. With a flexible connection the limit can change when the operator sends a signal.
Interval data: Meter readings recorded at fixed intervals, commonly every 15 minutes. A year of interval data shows how often and for how long a site is near its limit.
Island mode: Operation of a site on its own generation and storage, without a connection to the grid.
Load shifting: Moving electricity use to a different time, for example running a cold store harder before a peak so that it can reduce during the peak.
Network operator: The company that owns and runs the electricity network: a distribution system operator or a transmission system operator. It decides capacity and connection terms.
N+1 redundancy: Sizing with one unit more than the load needs, so that the site keeps running when one unit is out of service.
Peak shaving: Cutting the highest points of a site’s demand, with a battery, on-site generation or shifted loads. Read more →
Power control system: The equipment that keeps a site’s import or export within the agreed limit. Article 6a requires sites with a flexible connection to install a certified one.
Protected load: A load that is never reduced by the control system, such as a process line or a tenant’s equipment.
Reinforcement: Work on the network, such as new cables or transformers, that raises the capacity available in an area.
Transmission system operator (TSO): The company that runs the high-voltage network across a country or region. Very large sites may connect to a TSO.