Challenge
The Berlijnplein development area in Utrecht is currently facing some significant challenges due to congestion issues. The various buildings that are yet to be developed would not be able to consume electricity from the national grid or supply generated electricity back to the grid. While this problem persists, the exciting plans that have been approved by the city council won’t be able to be fully implemented. As we have worked successfully with Vink Bouw in the past on projects such as Republica, they called on our expertise again. In this case, we specifically investigated the use of battery systems.
Approach
To meet this challenge, Spectral took a comprehensive research approach. First, we estimated the energy consumption of the culture cluster: how much energy can we expect each building to use, and at what time of the day? We also researched various heating solutions, since these also influence the energy demand of the cluster. The research examined three scenarios: the baseline scenario, the best-case scenario, and the worst-case scenario. For each of these scenarios, we evaluated the capabilities and sizes of battery configurations needed.
Outcome
Different battery configurations were identified for each scenario. Despite the differences across the scenarios, our client adopted the maximum battery size for all three scenarios. This choice was made because designing for the worst case was desirable because it allowed for future flexibility. Ultimately, the study provided valuable insights into the potential role of battery technology in mitigating grid congestion problems and optimizing energy use for the Berlijnplein development in Utrecht.
