Six Dutch companies, three knowledge institutes and 40 households today will initiate a pilot in Groningen and Hoogkerk in which consumers will be testing innovative, smart energy services related to sustainable energy choices and cost savings.
The objective is to investigate which smart energy services best meet the consumer’s requirements, in order to implement a sustainable and cost effective energy supply. This is the first time that consumers are involved in such research. The trial forms part of PowerMatching City’s second phase. PowerMatching City I demonstrated the feasibility of creating a smart energy grid with corresponding market models using existing technologies. The participating households will make use of a smart energy system in which the demand and supply of energy is automatically matched – not only within the households themselves, but also between the participating households. The number of households in PowerMatching City II has been expanded from 18 to 40. In addition, ten electric vehicles have been added to the pilot. A wide scale of innovative energy technologies and equipment will be used, including energy storage, peak shaving, hybrid heat pumps, micro CHPs (combined heat and power), smart charging stations for electric transport and smart household appliances. The PowerMatching City consortium consists of the project partners DNV KEMA, Enexis, Essent, Gasunie, ICT Automatisering and TNO, and furthermore includes the knowledge partners Technical University Delft, Technical University Eindhoven and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen.