Electric public transport buses risk missing 2030 target due to lack of power supply.
The aim to have all public transport buses run emission-free by 2030 is in jeopardy. According to OV-NL, the trade association for public transport companies, the shortage of charging points due to the overload of the electricity grid is a major challenge. "Some clients already accept that fossil fuels will continue to be used after 2030," says chairman Hatte van der Woude.
The transition to fully electric bus transport has proven difficult to achieve in practice due to infrastructure problems. Although it has been mandatory since 2023 that newly purchased buses are electric, only 37% of the 5100 buses are emission-free. The problem lies mainly with access to the electricity grid. Transport companies are not given priority by grid operators and are at the back of the queue for a connection. As a result, diesel buses remain in use for longer, despite the national target of being emission-free by 2030.
Spokesperson Jan van Selm of the public transport authority partnership indicates that the severity of grid congestion has only recently become clear. “In some places you can no longer get power, which makes it difficult to achieve the 2030 targets.”
Friesland and Gelderland struggle with reality
Due to the power problem, carrier Qbuzz in Friesland was forced to purchase 2023 new diesel buses at the end of 200. A few weeks later, they would no longer be allowed to be put into service. “We quickly saw that there was insufficient power available at the start,” says a spokesperson for Qbuzz.
In Gelderland, the obstacles are also acknowledged. The province deliberately decided not to set the emission-free year 2030 as a hard requirement when tendering for bus transport in the Arnhem and Nijmegen regions. "We were afraid that otherwise there would be no registrations," said a spokesperson.
In Roosendaal, too, a large proportion of buses will continue to run on diesel for the time being. Arriva, in collaboration with grid operator Enexis, was unable to obtain sufficient power in time, despite efforts.

Although the situation is problematic in many regions, there are also carriers who come up with creative solutions to continue driving electric buses. In Flevoland, carrier EBS uses existing power supplies, such as at Lelystad Airport and a private transport company in Nagele. General manager Wilko Mol emphasizes that this temporary construction does entail additional costs: "This costs us hundreds of thousands of euros more."
priority on electricity grid
The pressure to meet the 2030 target has prompted public transport companies to go to court together with fourteen other large parties, including ProRail and KPN. They are demanding a higher place on the priority list of the electricity grid, which was established last year by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). On the current list, schools, hospitals and the police are given priority, but public transport is not included.
An ACM spokesperson indicates that choices are inevitable. “If everyone gets priority, ultimately no one has priority. Moreover, there are solutions such as charging buses outside peak hours.” This is already practice in Zaandam: there, EBS buses are only allowed to charge at night during the winter months.
verdict determines future
This year, the court will consider the case that public transport has brought together with other parties. This ruling could be decisive for achieving the climate objectives in 2030. For the time being, the question remains whether there will be sufficient decisiveness and infrastructure available to make public bus transport completely emission-free in time.