Republica provides an amazing test case for us to build an extensive microgrid and optimize it. The software we’ve built manages diverse assets, such as a community battery, PV panels, an aquifer thermal energy storage system (ATES), heat pumps, above-ground thermal energy buffers, E.V. chargi Contact online >>
Republica provides an amazing test case for us to build an extensive microgrid and optimize it. The software we’ve built manages diverse assets, such as a community battery, PV panels, an aquifer thermal energy storage system (ATES), heat pumps, above-ground thermal energy buffers, E.V. charging points, and building HVAC systems.
Our goal in managing those assets is to ensure maximum energy efficiency and to deliver multiple stacked energy services. Those energy services work on both the local (e.g. peak shaving, maximizing solar self-consumption) and national level (frequency regulation services to unburden the grid). Besides managing the microgrid and the assets, we also empower the Republica Energy Cooperative: a collective that consists of residents (both homeowners and tenants) and businesses (like the hotel owner and the ATES system operator). The collective will fulfill the roles of energy supplier and local grid operator, including all the complex administrative processes that come with that.
We have created a positive business case, proving the concept and making sure we can bring this solution to market so that we can create the most impact possible. Our end goal is to demonstrate how renewable-based microgrids can provide a cost-effective, scalable alternative to the status quo of public grid networks.
This is a STELLAR project. We were fortunate enough to be involved in the Republica project from the beginning. This means we can make sure the whole electricity system will be set up for the most success possible. Our basic approach has been to try to make everything smart, flexible, and interconnected. The collaboration between the parties responsible for the project ensures that our common goal will be achieved. Marc Koehler Architects opted for high-quality insulation, which helped bring down electricity usage, for example. We were consulted on the design of the battery room, but also on the choice of the exact battery to be used. We have been the key driver in getting an extra community solar plant. The same was true for other assets like the heat pump used.
The next step is to integrate all of those assets into STELLAR, our energy management software solution, based on our previous experience. Integrating the assets and making them communicate with each other enables us to finetune the settings based on the data. Using that, we can control the assets. Since the owners of Republica generate their own energy and their neighbors use that energy, our platform automatically bills members, making sure financial settlements between members are as easy as possible. The platform has made it possible for Republica to be its own energy supplier and grid operator. The various Republica members will also be able to see their own energy consumption, the source of their energy, the efficiency of their assets, and its actual production.
The whole community (which consists of 74 apartments, office space, a large hotel, leisure facilities, a parking structure, and a restaurant space) shares just one grid connection. Republica has become its own private grid operator, ensuring extremely local energy use, lower tariffs, and lower energy costs. Because the installations are used more efficiently, they save energy daily and are expected to have a longer operating life.
By implementing STELLAR, we have successfully integrated all of the smart energy systems on the site into one central system, allowing those systems to be controllable. We control them to be as efficient (and thus sustainable) as possible. This has made Republica into an energy-positive community, sharing just one limited grid connection, instead of a grid connection per household or business. That is good news for the congested neighborhood in which Republica is located. STELLAR Grid Management doesn’t only optimize the control of energy assets, it also enables energy trading and the delivery of balancing services, optimizing the business case for the community even further.
Every project builds on the successes of the previous ones allowing us to radically scale our positive impact on the environment and prove the renewable energy business model to the world.
Spectral is: ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified.
Schoonschip is a residential community of 46 households, located in the north of Amsterdam, which has been built on the water following a holistic approach to sustainable urban development. One of the most impressive features of the project is its smart micro-grid, which has enabled the community to act as their own energy supplier and grid operator thanks to a special experimental exemption provided by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Schoonschip smart grid has only one shared connection to the public electricity network, and the infrastructure behind the meter is privately owned by the community themselves. This is a STELLAR project.
Schoonschip''s emphasis on sustainability is highlighted by its goals of minimizing environmental effect, cutting carbon emissions, and boosting energy efficiency. In order to maximize sustainability and rely solely on a single grid connection shared by all users, the project needs creative solutions and careful thought. The floating community must successfully balance energy demand and supply while also maximizing resource allocation, maintaining grid resilience, encouraging collaborative management, and ensuring scalability and future development.
The project seeked to create a robust and sustainable energy system that enabled participants to meet their energy demands while reducing their environmental impact by tackling these complex issues.
The development of the smart grid technology at Schoonschip was a core focus of the "Grid-Friends" R&D initiative – a collaboration between Spectral, the Schoonschip community, and Fraunhofer Institute (Germany''s leading application technology research institution).
Each floating dwelling is equipped with a battery system, smart heat pump, and electrical solar panels. Some also have heat storage tanks and thermal solar panels. All of these devices are connected to STELLAR, which is responsible for optimizing the local energy balance and facilitating peer-to-peer energy exchange.
Our approach changes throughout the seasons. During winter time, we use the method of peak shaving. Peak shaving aims to keep the peak demand or supply on the joint Liander connection as low as possible. This minimizes the costs to Liander. The systems of the solar panels have the option of being (partially) switched off or regulated back in order to reduce the feed-in peak. To date, peak shaving of the solar panels has not been necessary.
The smart grid network also includes delivery to and from Schoonschip neighbors. The smart grid algorithm controls these energy flows. The focus is on self-consumption (use of generated solar power within the Schoonschip community) during the summer season, while during winter time, the focus is on minimizing the peak load on the main connection (the joint Liander grid connection) as much as possible. Such matters are arranged by the algorithm of the smart grid. The control for the summer months may therefore differ from the control in the winter.
The energy assets at Schoonschip are being aggregated together with large-scale storage and production systems into a Virtual Power Plant which will help balance the European electricity network and replace the role of fossil-fuel plants. Schoonschip provides a concrete, practical case which demonstrates how prosumers can play an active role in the sustainable energy transition. The Schoonschip smart grid has been running successfully since 2018, and Spectral is currently scaling up the technology which was developed at Schoonschip across numerous other cutting-edge smart grid projects, including the ground-breaking Schiphol Trade Park "Virtual Net". To our knowledge, the Schoonschip smart grid, still to this day, represents the most advanced residential smart grid globally!
Last June, electric grid operator Liander announced that the power grid in Amsterdam reached it maximum capacity in two areas in the city – one of these being Buiksloterham-Zuid/Overhoeks. Liander indicated that this area is limited by the capacity of the medium voltage (MV) electricity grid.
As a result, until the grid capacity expands, new large consumers (i.e. commercial or industrial energy consumers) cannot receive power from the grid. As the option identified by Liander to solve this issue, the grid expansion in Buiksloterham-Zuid/Overhoeks was brought forward in the planning. This is currently expected to be realized early 2023.
In collaboration with TU Delft, AMS Institute investigated the electricity grid in this specific area with the support of the City of Amsterdam and Liander. Specifically, to find if there are alternative solutions that allow safe grid integration of large new consumers before grid expansion is realized.
The Dutch economy continues to flourish, and urban development, digitization and the energy transition accelerates further. To illustrate, the rapid rise of electrification – amongst others related to electrified mobility and heating – lead to an immense increase in demand for power. So much so that the existing electric grid could reach power demands that exceed the capacity of grid components like cables and transformers. Also, such high demands could trigger safety procedures to disconnect network components to prevent damage to these components. In daily life, these possible disconnects would appear as outages.
Unfortunately, keeping grid expansion up to speed with aforementioned developments is not always possible anymore due to their rapid pace and the additional challenges of limited skilled workers, limited materials and local procedures. As a result, in various regions in the Netherlands, new large consumers (i.e. commercial or industrial energy consumers) cannot receive power from the grid. Instead, these new consumers typically resort in the temporary use of fossil-based generators until the grid capacity is expanded and the grid operator subsequently allows power consumption.
Often the focus regarding electric grid capacity limitations (logically) is mainly attributed to the capacity of substations, as the number of connected consumers directly dependant of this capacity is very large. In 2021, Amsterdam had 22 substations in total.
The limited capacity in the medium voltage (MV) cables and transformers which distribute the power form the substation to consumers are only limitedly addressed within Amsterdam. These challenges have a different scoping size – there are 2300 MV-transformers to support power distribution in Amsterdam – but are expected to limit the urban environment as well. That is exactly why research and innovations to tackle these aspects is much needed.
To find alternative solutions that would allow safe grid integration of new large consumers, AMS Institute, together with the research group Intelligent Electrical Power Grids of TU Delft, analyzed the specific situation in the Buiksloterham-Zuid/Overhoeks MV electric grid.
In this study, the researchers used energy consumption data of current large-scale consumers in this area and were able to create a network model for detailed calculation of energy flows in the medium voltage network in Buiksloterham/Overhoeks. Although available data was limited for this exercise and some assumptions and simplifications were needed, the study showed that with current policies and with limited data and generic models, the expected increase of needed power by consumers in the BZOH area is indeed exceeding capacity limits.
First and foremost, optimal network configurations have a large impact on the duration, frequency and locations of the expected high loads that stress the grid. Grid operators often change the network configuration for maintenance, in outage situations or to integrate new consumers and cables. However, an optimization for congested areas would require different strategies then currently practised.
Combined with an alternative reserve capacity for failure or maintenance then currently in use, critical grid situations can be minimized. Bearing in mind the aforementioned data limitations, the research team found that there are promising opportunities for this alternative power reserve:
1) Temporarily switching off collective heat pumps in high-rises (Demand Response)
In case of the most unfavorable failure scenarios in the medium-voltage grid of Buiksloterham/Overhoeks in the short period up to early-2023, temporarily switching off collective heat pumps in the new high-rise buildings is a promising solution to prevent medium-voltage congestion.
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