Challenge
The entrepreneurs at business park Schieoevers in Delft are eager to be more sustainable, but face lots of hurdles. Some businesses have solar panels, for example, but are having a hard time sharing the excess produced energy with their neighbors. Current legislation is making it complicated, and the financial benefits are slim. How can we help these businesses combat their location-specific challenges with regard to the energy transition? How can they become more sustainable collectively?
Approach
This is a Grid Edge Consulting project. We examined how a local energy market could help the businesses. It was vital to analyze the issue thoroughly, so we combined an energy, legal and financial point of view, to make sure we could get entrepreneurs on board. Two enthusiastic students from the local Haagse Hogeschool conducted interviews with 13 companies in the Schieoevers area. From those interviews, we retrieved information on the business owners’ perceived challenges related to the energy transition and collective sustainability and their vision for the future. Besides that, most of the companies interviewed provided insight into their energy data. This combination of interviews and market knowledge provided a detailed view of the case.
Outcome
Based on insight from local business owners, we were able to determine the energetic and financial gains of a local energy market. Our efforts resulted in a plan for the future. We advised the municipality to help businesses start their own energy service company and to take further steps on the road to sustainability with a shared solar park or shared mobility in the form of electrical vehicles.
