The neighborhood of Houtlaan in Assen, the Netherlands, has ambitious targets for reducing the neighborhood’s
carbon emissions and increasing their production of their own, sustainable energy. Specifically, they wish to
increase the percentage of houses with a heat pump, electric vehicle (EV) and solar panels (PV) to 60%, 70%
and 80%, respectively, by the year 2030. However, it was unclear what the impacts of this transition would be on
the electricity grid, and what limitations or problems might be encountered along the way.
Therefore, a study was carried out to model the future energy load and production patterns in Houtlaan. The
purpose of the model was to identify and quantify the problems which could be encountered if no steps are taken
to prevent these problems. In addition, the model was used to simulate the effectiveness of various proposed
solutions to reduce or eliminate the problems which were identified.