The SynergyS project aims to develop and assess a smart control system for multi-commodity energy systems (SMCES). The consortium, including a broad range of partners from different sectors, believes a SMCES is better able to incorporate new energy sources in the energy system. The partners are Hanze, TU Delft, University of Groningen, TNO, D4, Groningen Seaports, Emerson, Gain Automation Technology, Energy21, and Enshore. The project is supported by a Energy Innovation NL (topsector energie) subsidy by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.Groningen Seaports (Eemshaven, Chemical Park Delfzijl) and Leeuwarden are used as case studies for respectively an industrial and residential cluster. Using a market-based approach new local energy markets have been developed complementing the existing national wholesale markets. Agents exchange energy using optimized bidding strategies, resulting in better utilization of the assets in their portfolio. Using a combination of digital twins and physical assets from two field labs (ENTRANCE, The Green Village) performance of the SMCES is assessed. In this talk the smart multi-commodity energy system is presented, as well as some first results of the assessment. Finally an outlook is given how the market-based approach can benefit the development of energy hubs.
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Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are a promising approach to urban energy transformation, aiming to optimize local energy systems and deliver environmental, social and economic benefits. However, their effectiveness and justification for investment rely on understanding the additional value they provide (additionality) in comparison to current policies and planning methods. The additionality perspective is not used yet in current evaluations of PED demonstrations and pilots. Therefore, this paper introduces the concept of additionality in the evaluation of PEDs, focusing on the additional benefits they bring and the circumstances under which they are most effective. We discuss the additionality of PEDs in addressing the challenges of climate neutrality and energy system transformation in three European cities that are funded by the European Commission’s H2020 Programme. It should be noted that given the ongoing status of these projects, the assessment is mainly based on preliminary results, as monitoring is still ongoing and quantitative results are not yet available. The paper discusses the drivers and barriers specific to PEDs, and highlights the challenges posed by technical complexities, financing aspects and social and legal restrictions. Conclusions are drawn regarding the concept of additionality and its implications for the wider development of PEDs as a response to the challenges of climate neutrality and energy system transformation in cities. We conclude that the additionality perspective provides valuable insights into the impact and potential of PEDs for societal goals and recommend this approach for use in the final evaluation of R&I projects involving PEDs using actual monitored data on PEDs.
The government of Ukraine has adopted the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) with clear goals and a roadmap to facilitate its energy transition towards renewable sources. This is done because of both climate concerns as well as reasons related to Ukraine’s foreign policy which led the government to decide that Ukraine should work more on its own energy independence. Currently the percentage of renewable energy sources in Ukraine is among the lowest of the entire Europe and there is only slow development in terms of the growth of the sector, even though there is a lot of available biomass, given the large and flat surface of the country with a well-developed agricultural sector. As in most countries in the world, there is a quite intensive and well-developed debate in Ukraine about the energy sector, energy usage and the necessary transition towards more renewable types of energy. One of the consequences of it is that Ukraine is one of the partner countries in the Paris agreement and committed itself to reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the future. That means that a transformation towards renewable energy is needed, even though currently in Ukraine only a low percentage of energy is generated by sustainable sources. The general picture is that in Ukraine the development of the renewable energy sector is going not as fast as could have been. In other words, there are several barriers present that hinder the energy transition. One of the issues behind such a barrier may be a limited access to technology, or problems with legislation or other issues which may be unknown so far, but certainly relevant for foreign investors. The Ukrainian government adopted the so-called Renewable Energy Directive (RED), set goals for the energy transition and support the transition itself. In some areas progress was made, for example in the growing number of biomass fired boilers, but still Ukraine remains one of the European countries with the lowest percentage of renewable energy production. Therefore, in order to identify currently existing barriers and help to find possible applications of new technologies in Ukraine, the Dutch Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemerschap) commissioned this study. It was done within the framework of the Partners in Business on Bioenergy program. The focus of this study is on analysing the renewable energy sector, with special attention for biomass, in the form of biomass-based heating and biomass for biofuels. Of course, other parts of the renewable energy sector such as solar and wind energy are also taken into consideration. The second part consists of a case study to determine the business case for direct processing of sugar beets with Betaprocess as a possible application of biomass to biofuel production in Ukraine. The third study is aiming at determining the amount of biomass that can safely be taken from the fields, without negatively affecting the fertility of the soil. These sub-studies mentioned in the previous paragraph offer a better understanding of the renewable energy market in general and biomass/biofuel applications in particular. This study sheds light on several important questions that entrepreneurs and/or other foreign investors may have about investing in Ukraine. Even though it is well-known that doing business in Ukraine is challenging, it is also very important to have a clear picture of the opportunities that this country offers, within the limits that nature sets, in order to avoid negative consequences like soil degradation. The objective of this report is to find out about which opportunities and barriers exist in the Ukrainian transition towards renewable energy generation, to calculate the profitability of new biomass-processing technologies as well as finding out limitations of biomass usage.
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Dit project heeft tot doel het ontwerp en de exploitatie van lokale energiesystemen te verbeteren voor buurten met een hoge zelfvoorziening en een hoge betrokkenheid van alle betrokken belanghebbenden. In dit project wordt een integrale aanpak toegepast door zowel technische als sociale aspecten mee te nemen.
