Slim Strandnet Scheveningen: local energy management becomes reality
Kersten Techniek is working with the municipality of The Hague, Stedin and OpenRemote on the Slim Strandnet in Scheveningen. This innovative, autonomous electricity grid, also known as a microgrid, is an essential part of the solution for grid congestion in the Netherlands.
The importance of democratising energy
Flexibility is essential in the energy system of the future. End users play a major role, provided they are well supported by predictive models and remote control. In this way, they can automatically and voluntarily contribute to the optimization of the energy system with their installations. The result is smart, local coordination of supply and demand, advantageous energy purchasing and optimal use of grid capacity.
How did Slim Strandnet start?
The municipality of The Hague has been participating in the City Deal ‘A Smart City, this is how you do it’ since 2020. A three-year program that aims to develop a toolbox with instruments and products for digital innovation in cities. One of the test gardens is Living Lab Scheveningen, where innovations are tested. The innovation Slim Strandnet is a local energy network to which a number of municipal services, beach pavilions, solar generation and a beach battery are connected. By smartly controlling and balancing supply and demand, the available capacity is better utilized and congestion is prevented. The results also serve as an example for other areas in The Hague where the electricity grid is overloaded. The project is also an example of an energy community where the municipality and companies share energy and organize it as sustainably as possible. The project is partly supported by a Kansen voor West subsidy. Stedin is experimenting here with the electricity grid of the future: proven innovations from the pilot are scaled up to other low-voltage networks in the Netherlands. And together they have an enormous impact on a sustainable, affordable energy supply for the Netherlands. For the design and construction of the digital infrastructure, based on open standards and open source technology, the municipality of The Hague issued a tender in the autumn of 2023. The partners Kersten Techniek and OpenRemote have been selected for this project.
The energy hub by the sea is a testing ground for progress
For Kersten, this assignment means the next step in jointly enabling the energy transition by developing methods and techniques to integrate electrification, heat transition, management and maintenance. This with the aim of offering a solution for congestion through energy management. Kersten’s collaboration partner -OpenRemote- says about it: “The Slim Strandnet Scheveningen offers an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how a fully open source approach can be distinctive in managing and optimizing the energy system. After our previous collaboration, we look forward to working with Kersten Techniek again, in collaboration with the municipality of The Hague and Stedin. We also hope that it can be an inspiring example of an innovative approach that is both automatic and behavioural change-driven.”
The great importance of energy hubs for companies
The demand for electricity transport is increasing, due to large-scale solar and wind projects for energy generation, but also due to increased electricity consumption due to electrification of industry, more electric transport and electric heating. Grid operators are investing heavily in expanding the electricity grid, but this takes time. That is why we also need to use the grid more intelligently. This can be done in an e-hub by matching supply and demand for energy in a local area. This creates more room for sustainability or growth. Locally generated energy is also consumed locally and directly as much as possible by exchanging it within the e-hub. If there is ‘leftover’ flexibility within the e-hub, the connected parties in some regions can make agreements with Stedin or TenneT to supply this energy back at certain times for a fee in order to alleviate bottlenecks in the power grid.
With the Slim Strandnet, Scheveningen is taking an important step in the energy transition. This project shows how local energy solutions contribute to a more stable and efficient electricity grid, a vision that Kersten Techniek – within this partnership – is proud to contribute to.
