'New' energy

It is in the air. Politics chooses to turn off the gas tap and the whole of the Netherlands is aware of the 'new' energy. In order to actually realize this, the horizon has been set at 2030 (we also set that horizon together for the Paris climate agreement).

Paul Petersen Director of FHI

Within FHI there are quite a few groups that are directly involved with the impact. The ambitions require technical solutions, but also embedding in laws, rules, standards and norms (+ enforcement you could say). With a short bird's eye view of the various groups that are involved with Energy, I mainly try to show networking opportunities, to make solutions possible for social issues with technical companies.

Platform Energy

This group meets twice a year to discuss current developments in gas and electricity with governments, notified bodies and energy companies. The presentations by Ad van Wijk in the autumn about the new hydrogen economy and Machiel Van Steenis of the New Energy Coalition addressed the challenges of this 'new' energy and were highly appreciated by the members of the Energy and Liquid platforms. The conclusion of the experts present was, however, that a horizon of 2030 seems too narrow to also coordinate everything in European/global laws, regulations, standards and norms. This is the main focus of this platform.

IT Room Infrastructure

The Dutch Data Center association recently made the news with an urgent letter, in which the acute capacity problems of the energy grid were addressed. At the annual event of FHI members for data centers, computer rooms and other IT rooms, this theme is constantly brought up, both in availability (always on) as sustainability (for example, reusing heat in the environment). The energy transition, the use of sustainable sources and the possibilities of technology (IoT is often mentioned) are issues that must be viewed in an integrated manner. What is happening in data centers is just as important for buildings, industry and healthcare. The same opportunities can be realized in those areas.

Energy Storage/Smart Battery technology

On May 16, 2018, the first meeting will take place with members of the Industrial Electronics sector, PLOT and MinacNed on this theme. There are a number of alternative storage media, but at the moment we generally talk about battery technology when it comes to energy storage. With the energy transition in mind, but also all kinds of other trends such as electric mobility and efficient factories, expertise in the field of energy storage is important. Innovations, research and practical applications are coming. There are more examples in the FHI sectors where we explicitly look at the new challenges with energy (my list is therefore not complete) and there are opportunities to be realized there. For FHI members who have a specific question, to join a suitable meeting or activity, I hope to have offered inspiration. If you think you are missing out on certain opportunities because you would also like to attend such a meeting, I would like to receive an email: p.petersen@fhi.nl.