1st Real-World Smart Grid Of Its Size In The Netherlands?

June 6th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

In what very well may be my favorite city on Earth — bicycle heaven Groningen, in the Netherlands — some Dutch firms have set up what they think may be the largest real-world application and study of a smart grid. In its first phase, it only includes 25 homes, but that’s a start.

The homes can freely exchange electricity, as they all have micro combined heat and power systems (High Efficiency boilers), hybrid heat pumps, smart meters, PV panels, electric transport, and smart household appliances. Together, with all of these features, they create a ‘Smart energy system’.

“This is the first time inEurope, and insofar as known worldwide, that the results of a live smart grid community are known at this technological scale,” energy consulting and testing & certification firm KEMA, leading the project, reports.

The project has been implemented by Dutch ‘knowledge institute’ TMO, software company Humiq, energy company Essent, and KEMA.

The pilot project succeeded in meeting all 3 key goals — “energy optimization for the end user, reduction in the grid load for the network operator and a reduction in imbalances for the utility” — and a second phase is starting with a new set of goals — “integration of the market model into the regular energy market processes (http://www.kema.com/services/consulting/regulation/Default.aspx), such as 1) settlement and billing; 2) expansion of the use of electric transport and associated smart charging services; 3) upscaling of the live lab environment and 4) congestion management at the district transformer.”

Hopefully it goes smoothly as well and we will see such smart grids growing fast in the years to come.

h/t EarthTechling

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