A dry cleaner on 3×63A

In De Pijp, Amsterdam, there is a dry cleaner whose machines together demand about 3×180 amps. The grid connection supplies 3×63. Almost three times too little, on paper.

The classic solution is to apply for a heavier connection. But in large parts of the Netherlands the grid is full: whoever asks for a heavier connection today joins a waiting list — and then pays structurally higher standing charges for capacity that sits unused most of the day. That problem has a name: grid congestion — the grid cannot supply the requested capacity, and an upgrade often means years of waiting on the grid operator.

Because that is the real insight: the 3×180A exists only on paper. In practice, all the machines are never on at the same time. Part of the time there is pressing, part of the time drying; the peak moment when everything coincides hardly exists — unless you leave it to chance.

So I don't leave it to chance. I am currently building the controls for it: the Homer EMS guards the connection and distributes the room — a machine that needs power reports in, the system grants room in turn, and total draw stays within the 3×63A. For the staff little will change — the work simply carries on, the sequencing sorts itself out under the hood.

Once finished, the business fits within its existing connection — without a waiting list and without an upgrade. Not by doing less, but by using the available power at the moments it is there.

This is the same question more and more businesses are facing, whichever way you look at it: for now, the grid is not growing with demand. Steering with what you have is then not a stopgap — it is simply the proper way to build.