A wind and/or solar farm combined with battery storage is not new. Locally seeking customers for renewable energy is also increasingly obvious. But what if we go one step further? If we link electricity, storage and other energy systems locally, such as a heat grid or charging plaza? Then we create a place where energy supply and demand are in balance: the energy landscape of the future.   

Green Trusters Sjoerd Dijk and Christian Holdert are committed to the development of energy landscapes. They take a broad look at where opportunities lie to connect the supply and demand of energy. And look - with the help of local knowledge from entrepreneurs - for integral solutions.  

Balance  

“Everyone who needs energy - especially on a large scale - runs into various forms of imbalance,” says Sjoerd. “The supply of energy is not always in balance with demand. Per day, for example, you see that there is a lot of demand in the morning and especially in the evening between six and nine, while there is less during the day. At the same time, due to the generation of renewable energy, there is a lot of supply during the day. Some form of imbalance also exists between seasons. During the winter months, for example, the demand for electricity and heat is higher while the yield from solar energy is much lower. If it is then also windless, the availability of renewable energy drops completely.”  

“By bringing local supply and demand together in an energy landscape, we can reduce the problem of imbalance,” Christian adds. “At the same time, herein lies a solution to grid congestion. And it also benefits costs.”  

Visible landscape elements  

So what does such an energy landscape look like? It consists of several elements:   

• generation of renewable energy via a solar field or wind farm;  
• energy storage systems such as batteries or thermal storage;   
• system integration by linking the electricity grid to other energy systems such as the gas grid, industry, heat networks and mobility (charging plazas);  
• energy hubs: for example, a battery or charging plaza at a solar field or wind farm. Or a business park that provides most of its own energy with a solar field or wind farm.  

Making connections  

In addition to these visible components, intangible elements play an important role in the energy landscape. Sjoerd: “We look at where there is demand and supply of energy and how we can connect them. Not just with cables and pipes, but by making connections with and between local entrepreneurs. Like mutual agreements to match demand profiles. By looking outside the walls of your own company, together you can make optimal use of locally available energy and thus avoid costs and (congestion) restrictions. In this way, we also create additional space and opportunities for (new) companies that cannot expand or establish themselves due to grid congestion.”  

Proper collaboration and understanding are crucial to achieving an efficient and sustainable energy landscape. Green Trust can help in gaining this insight and is happy to advise you on what opportunities exist in your area. Green Trust can also play a role in the development, financing, construction and management of the various elements of the energy landscape.