Yes, most restaurants and party halls can cook fully electric, but not always on the grid connection they have today. Add the busiest quarter-hour of the new kitchen to your current peak and compare it with your connection. What you cannot stagger or control, business battery systems deliver during service and recharge in the quiet hours.
"Can our connection take an induction kitchen?" Owners ask it once the quote is in. What costs money is not the switch to electric, but finding out too late.
A warehouse in Hamme had solid solar panels, but nobody was there by day. Its three-phase battery (9 kVA, 30.8 kWh) stores the solar power for the evening: the sun works at noon, the kitchen at eight.
Why does an electric restaurant kitchen push your grid connection to its limit?
Because every burner, fryer and oven that ran on gas now draws on your electricity connection, all in the same hours. On gas the kitchen never showed in your electrical peak; on electricity it becomes the largest part.
Energie+, the energy website of UCLouvain, lists the power of professional kitchen equipment.
| Equipment | Electrical power (kW) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Induction hob, one zone | 2 to 5 | Maxima (Belgian catering supplier) |
| Range (hob with several zones) | 5 to 21.5 | Energie+ |
| Fryer | 7.5 to 38 | Energie+ |
| Tilting pan (sauteuse) | 11 to 18.5 | Energie+ |
| Boiling kettle, 40 to 300 litres | 10 to 35 | Energie+ |
| Combi oven | 10 to 73 | Energie+ |
| Conveyor dishwasher | 33 to 115 | Energie+ |
A single induction zone of 3.5 kW runs on 230 V; 5 kW zones and larger ranges need 400 V three-phase. A kitchen that is fine on paper can still fail on the type of connection. Induction wastes less energy than gas, as it heats the pan instead of the air, but its power lands at the busiest moment.
A restaurant owner abroad described a new two-deck pizza oven that needed three-phase power. The building had single phase, and the grid operator said three-phase was not possible. In Belgium the fuses blow on the first full Saturday, and a heavier connection takes months or is refused.
A 3x230V connection that is too weak explains why many three-phase appliances do not work on it.
How much power does a commercial kitchen draw at the same time?
Not the sum of all nameplates, but a large share of it. Energie+ gives a simultaneity factor of 0.8 to 0.9 for small kitchens and 0.5 to 0.7 for larger ones.
Take an illustrative brasserie that swaps gas for electric. Its new commercial induction kitchen has four zones of 3.5 kW (14 kW), a 15 kW combi oven and a 15 kW fryer. That is 44 kW; at a factor of 0.8, about 35 kW runs at once during service.
Add the 20 kW the site already drew for cooling, extraction, lighting, dishwasher and coffee machine: the commercial kitchen peak demand lands around 55 kW.
Does the new kitchen fit your connection?
A British study of 14 gastro-pub kitchens found that consumption fell only 20% on a quiet Monday compared with a busy Saturday. Equipment left on between services uses energy all day, but the peak is what the connection must carry.
Is your connection strong enough for an induction kitchen?
Your connection is strong enough when your new service peak stays below its power in kVA, with some margin. Your connection is given in amperes; on 3 x 400 V the rule is 1.73 x 400 V x amperes / 1000.
| Connection | Power (about) |
|---|---|
| 3 x 400 V, 40 A | 27.7 kVA |
| 3 x 400 V, 63 A | 43.6 kVA |
| 3 x 400 V, 80 A | 55.4 kVA |
| 3 x 400 V, 100 A | 69.3 kVA |
The illustrative brasserie on 63 A (43.6 kVA) no longer fits with a service peak of 55 kW. On 80 A it is at the limit, with no room for a hot evening when every fridge runs hard.
Read your real peak from the digital meter: code 1.6.0 shows the highest quarter-hour of the current month. Mijn Fluvius shows your peaks month by month.
Watch out
In Flanders a connection up to 25 kVA is always low voltage. Between 25 and 250 kVA the grid operator decides, and above 250 kVA it is always high voltage with your own cabin. See whether your business is on low or medium voltage.
Tip
Renting or buying a building for a restaurant? Check the connection before you sign: how to check the grid connection of a business building lists what to ask.
Why does the evening service set your peak, and what does that cost?
Because the kitchen, the cooling, the extraction and the dining room reach full load together, after your solar panels stop producing. In Flanders, that busiest quarter-hour decides your capacity tariff.
For businesses on low voltage with a digital meter, Fluvius takes the highest quarter-hour of each month. You pay for the average of the last 12 monthly peaks, with a minimum of 2.5 kW. In 2026 that costs about 53.39 euro per kW per year on average, excluding VAT (Vlaamse Nutsregulator).
What a monthly peak costs per year in capacity tariff (Flanders, low voltage)
Illustrative day in a brasserie with an electric kitchen
A fryer that heats up for two minutes adds little; everything running together for fifteen minutes sets the peak. How to calculate the capacity tariff for your business walks through the full sum. Business peak demand shows how to find that quarter-hour in your data.
Watch out
On medium voltage the rules differ. You pay partly for an access power you choose, and going above it costs 50% more. A single busy evening above that power counts.
In Wallonia or Brussels? The capacity tariff above is Flemish. In Wallonia a standard low-voltage connection up to 56 kVA has no capacity term; larger ones with peak metering pay differently.
The connection limit applies everywhere: a connection that is too small blows the same fuses in Namur as in Ghent. Our article on grid tariffs for businesses in Wallonia and Brussels explains what a peak costs with ORES, RESA and Sibelga.
Why does one party a month set the capacity tariff of a party hall?
Because the capacity tariff takes the highest quarter-hour of the month, and a party hall reaches it on the night of its biggest party.
On weekdays a party hall may draw little more than cooling and lighting. On a wedding night the catering kitchen, dishwashers, bar, sound and lighting all run together. Take an illustrative hall at 15 kW on weekdays and 45 kW on party nights.
| Events | Average of the 12 monthly peaks | Capacity tariff per year (about) |
|---|---|---|
| No big events | 15 kW | 801 euro |
| Big events six months a year | 30 kW | 1,602 euro |
| At least one big event every month | 45 kW | 2,403 euro |
Calculated at 53.39 euro per kW per year, excluding VAT. One party in a month costs the same capacity tariff as four. So prepare what you can before the guests arrive, and keep the dishwashers away from the peak of the meal.
Mobile kitchen or outdoor stages? See running a festival or event without diesel.
How do you go electric without raising your peak?
Work from cheap to expensive: choose the equipment on real use, stagger it, let a controller cap it, and only then store energy.
Size the equipment on the menu, not on the catalogue
Ask the supplier for the power and voltage of every appliance. A combi oven or fryer that is one size too big adds kilowatts you pay for every month.
Stagger what can wait
Preheat the combi oven before service, not during it. Run the dishwasher after the rush. Fill the hot-water buffer in the afternoon.
Let a controller cap the flexible loads
Near a limit you set, load control holds back what can wait a few minutes: boilers, dishwasher tanks, chargers. The Foodservice Equipment Association writes that such controls can lower the peak by 20 to 40%. See what an energy management system does for a business.
Store for the part you cannot move
A business battery delivers the extra power during service and recharges in the quiet hours or with solar power. Peak shaving with a battery explains how much power and energy that takes.
Important
Never replace fuses with bigger ones to "make it work". The fuses protect the cables and the connection. Changing the kitchen supply is work for a qualified electrician, with an inspection where the rules require one.
Planning an electric kitchen and not sure your connection can take it? Call us or send a message.
Heavier connection, cabin or battery: what fits a restaurant or party hall?
Choose by how many hours you are short, not by the size of the kitchen.
| Option | When it fits | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Stagger and control the kitchen | The new peak is close to your connection | Needs discipline or equipment that can be controlled |
| Keep one gas appliance (wok, grill) | You still have a gas connection | You keep paying for gas and its connection |
| Heavier low-voltage connection | The street has capacity and you can wait | Cost and waiting time; in congested areas it can be refused |
| Medium-voltage cabin | Large venues well above 250 kVA | A large investment and your own cabin to maintain |
| Business battery behind the meter | You are short during service, for a few hours | Sized on the service peak and how long it lasts |
| Semi off-grid system | The connection is too weak for your plans | Most of the site runs on solar and battery |
Our battery systems for businesses range from small installations for SMEs to modular systems up to 1 MW. Where the connection itself is the bottleneck, a semi off-grid system is the next step.
Fluvius refused a heavier connection? Read your options when a heavier connection is refused. More power without a heavier connection shows how a battery adds power on the same cable.
Weighing your own cabin? Compare a high-voltage cabin or a battery.
Hotels hit the same wall, often before opening: see how a hotel can open when the grid connection is delayed. Renting? See who pays for a battery in a rented business building.
Our verdict
A small restaurant with a few induction zones and room on its connection needs no battery. Choose the equipment well and keep the dishwasher out of the rush. A battery earns its place when the kitchen pushes you over your connection during service, or when it saves a heavier connection or a cabin. It pays off faster when it also stores your solar power for the evening service and keeps the cooling running in a power cut.
Frequently asked questions
Does an electric kitchen need less extraction?
Often a little: the Foodservice Equipment Association writes that electric appliances usually need lower extraction rates than gas ones. A full conversion may still need changes to extraction and ventilation, so involve your ventilation installer.
Can we keep gas for the wok or the grill?
Yes, if you keep your gas connection: it takes one large load out of your electrical peak. Weigh that against the fixed cost of keeping gas for one or two appliances.
We also add a heat pump. Does that change the sum?
Yes: it adds its own peak, often on cold mornings and evenings. A heat pump and your business connection explains how to add both without raising your peak.
Want to know whether your connection can take an electric kitchen?
Send us your equipment list and your current peak. One of our engineers tells you whether it fits, what the service peak costs and whether control or a battery keeps it under your connection.
- Analysis. We read your peaks and the equipment list of the new kitchen. If data is missing, we can measure your consumption first.
- Technical design. We choose the battery power, the storage, the control and, where useful, solar panels.
- Installation and start-up.
- Monitoring and support. You follow the peaks and the state of charge in our monitoring software.
Sources
- Energie+ (UCLouvain): electrical power in collective kitchens
- Maxima: professional induction hobs
- Foodservice Equipment Association: going electric
- Mudie et al. (2016): electricity use in the commercial kitchen
- Vlaamse Nutsregulator: capacity tariff
- Fluvius: capacity tariff for households and small businesses
- Fluvius: capacity tariff with high-consumption metering
- Vlaamse Nutsregulator: low-voltage tariff details 2026
- ORES: AMR meter