Grid congestion meeting discusses problems and possible solutions

At the Faculty of Technology of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, many parties delved deeper into the theme of grid congestion. The 45 expert guests discussed with each other after a number of lectures. The question was how knowledge and possible solutions could be better bundled in the future in order to tackle the problem of a congested power network.

The opening was provided by Renee Heller, professor of Energy & Innovation at the Faculty of Technology, opened the theme meeting. She spoke briefly about a number of initiatives to make Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences 'Paris Proof'. This is done, among other things, with smart charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Smart charging was also discussed Flexpower3 project. In this project, the municipality of Amsterdam, Liander, E-Laad, Vattenfall, Heijmans and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) are investigating whether the speed at which electric cars are charged can be adapted to the amount of energy available in the electricity grid. In this way, grid congestion can be combatted, a problem that is certainly also an issue in the capital. During the meeting, three people involved provided insight into this project and the (provisional) conclusions.

Novar, formerly Solarfields, focuses on realizing large-scale energy projects for solar energy, energy storage and smart grids. To relieve the pressure on the congested power grid, the company wants to connect large batteries to smart grids. This stored power then becomes available to several large energy consumers and the power grid. Novar emphasized that this requires a number of preconditions: clearer rules on the net and very accurate measuring equipment to collect reliable data.

The last speaker, Anne van der Molen van Stedin, discussed a number of practical solutions to reduce grid congestion. Stedin sees opportunities in installing batteries, but also in vehicle-to-grid and smarter control of equipment in households.

During the closing discussion it became clear that a lot of technical expertise is available not only on grid congestion but on other energy transition themes, but cannot be tapped in its entirety. FHI will gauge whether people are interested in bundling that expertise, so that it can also be offered to policymakers.

Would you like to see the speakers again? Follow this link for a video.