ACM Publishes Full Decision Text Detailing Seven Required Improvements for Netherlands' First Flexibility Needs Assessment

The primary source is ACM's full published decision document (Besluit ACM/UIT/1122333) underlying its 12 October 2026 approval of TenneT's revised FNA. It adds substantial new procedural and legal detail not previously captured: the exact review timeline (ACM posed written questions on 18 August 2026, received answers 28 August 2026, formally requested changes 3 September 2026, received the revised report 11 September 2026); ACM's explicit list of seven specific improvements expected in the next FNA cycle; ACM's reasoning for excluding voltage-quality analysis from this first version (because over/under-voltage is currently managed via network switching rather than active power); confirmation that TSO-level network flexibility needs are expected to decline toward 2035 due to planned grid expansions; and the full statutory text of Article 19 septies (indicative national non-fossil flexibility target due within six months of report submission) and Article 19 sexies(7) (ACER must issue an EU-wide cross-border flexibility report within twelve months of receiving national reports).

These newly disclosed procedural and legal specifics sharpen the regulatory pathway following FNA approval: the Article 19 septies clock for the Netherlands to set an indicative non-fossil flexibility target is now explicitly tied to report submission timing, and the Article 19 sexies(7) ACER cross-border review creates an EU-level feedback loop that could shape future methodology and barrier-removal recommendations. ACM's granular list of required improvements (multi-scenario analysis, realistic rather than target-driven flexibility projections, implicit flexibility/behavioral modeling, consistent weather-year assumptions, voltage-quality coverage, sub-25kV network inclusion, and system-network 'fine-tuning' methodology) sets a concrete reform agenda that will determine the credibility of the 2028 FNA cycle and the robustness of resulting national flexibility targets and support schemes.

This document does not change the Dutch FNA's regulatory status but meaningfully deepens the evidentiary basis for assessing what comes next. The explicit statutory hook for Article 19 septies (six months post-submission) suggests the Netherlands faces an indicative flexibility target-setting obligation in the near term, though the precise trigger date (first submission 24 July 2026 versus final approved version) remains ambiguous in this source, so only approximate timing can be inferred. Similarly, the ACER cross-border report obligation under Article 19 sexies(7) is EU-wide and not solely dependent on the Dutch submission, making its timing uncertain from a single national decision. The granularity of ACM's seven-point improvement list signals the regulator intends an active, iterative tightening of FNA methodology rather than a one-off compliance exercise, which should be read as an implicit warning to TenneT and DSOs that assumption-driven 'target reasoning' (circular logic where projected flexibility growth is assumed sufficient to meet projected needs) will face stricter scrutiny in 2028. This reinforces the view that current adequacy conclusions for 2030/2035 remain provisional and policy-dependent.

Regulation (EU) 2019/943 (recast Electricity Regulation), Articles 19 sexies and 19 septies; ACER Decision No 05/2025 (FNA methodology, 25 July 2025); Dutch Energieregeling Article 3.42 (Minister for Climate and Green Growth, 9 November 2025)

Netherlands to set indicative national non-fossil flexibility target under Article 19 septies, due within six months of FNA report submission

Primary sources