Liander to pilot flexibility with Schiphol Trade Park
Under a joint balancing agreement Dutch distribution operator Liander is investigating supply capacity issues at the Schipol Trade Park.
The initiative is developing a virtual grid utilising real-time data and smart control to optimise the available energy supply among companies in the Trade Park.
During peak times, power from the grid will be supplemented with stored solar energy and as a last resort gas peak generation.
The balancing platform has been developed by the Amsterdam-based smart energy solution provider Spectral, building out from its energy control and smart building platforms.
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Flexibility – barriers and challenges in Europe
Bottlenecks on the grid are becoming increasingly common in the Netherlands due to the high demand and expansion of the grid can lag the rapid developments that are taking place, says Huibert Baud, Director of Customer & Design at Liander.
“We do everything we can to provide our customers with energy on time. In collaboration with Energy Cooperative Schiphol Trade Park, Liander is investigating new ways to find more space on the existing grid together with other parties.”
As a first step, the energy cooperative was formed by companies at the Schipol Trade Park, which in close collaboration with Liander and Spectral developed the concept for collective energy supply – a task that required “vision, trust and intensive cooperation”, according to project manager Arnoud van der Wijk.
“The capacity in the power grid is not always fully utilised. This means that at times of underutilisation there is ‘free space’ for all companies to use. The scarce (grid) capacity is thus cleverly shared with each other.”
The Schipol Trade Park, with the ambition to become the most sustainable business park in Europe, is a development of the Schiphol Area Development Company close to Schipol airport.
Among the features on the park is an Energy Hub with multi fuel options and a 3ha solar installation which is hoped will become an R&D hub for the development of innovative clean energy products.
