Spectral

Schoonschip, a floating residential neighborhood of 47 households located in Amsterdam North, hopes to become the most sustainable urban development in Europe. The project aims to re-envision the way we approach sustainable development, setting a new standard for resource management, sustainable building design, community governance, and closing nutrient cycles.

Spectral is leading the implementation of an advanced smart-grid at Schoonschip. The Schoonschip community was recently awarded the “Experimenteerregeling,” which allows them to develop their own private microgrid (behind the meter) with only one central grid connection. Each house will be equipped with local PV production, battery storage, solar collectors, thermal storage, a smart heat pump, and other smart-grid ready appliances.

Spectral is responsible for the complete project development of the smart-grid, including detailed engineering, subcontracting installations, securing permits, acquiring pre-financing, and other necessary activities. Spectral is also a core member of the “Grid-Friends” project team, together with CWI and Fraunhofer ITWM, two leading European research institutes. The “Grid-Friends” project is focused on implementing and further developing an advanced smart-grid control platform at Schoonschip, aiming to set a new (global) standard in smart-grid technology.

Spectral was commissioned by INNAX and BAM Energy Systems in order to develop an integral plan for a high performance smart-grid for the Bijlmer Bajes Kwartier development project. The project will consist of more than 1.350 new apartments, several commercial buildings, and a school, amounting to more than 135.000 m2 of newly developed real estate. The energy concept for the area includes local renewable generation systems based on PV, wind, and biogas, large-scale centralized battery systems, smart heat pumps combined with an aquifer thermal storage system, and intelligent coordination of local supply and demand via Spectral’s energy management system (SEMS).

In May 2018, the Triple B consortium, which includes Spectral, LENS, and Ymere, launched a real-world pilot to explore opportunities for empowering local energy communities to take control of their own energy supply and to actively participate in the market. According to Article 16 of the upcoming EU Clean Energy Package, energy communities should be able to: “…own community networks and autonomously manage them [and] to access all organized markets.” With the upcoming regulatory changes, the increasingly important role of energy communities, and the growing demand for sustainable and affordable energy for prosumers, new market mechanisms are required. As a result, Triple B is developing innovative business models that leverage the latest capabilities of smart energy technology to allow energy communities to actively trade on the energy markets, while using shared assets such as PV and batteries to keep their collective supply and demand in balance.

“Blijburg” is a beach complex located in Amsterdam East which consists of two restaurants, a snackbar, and an events space. Spectral was responsible for the design and implementation of an advanced microgrid at Blijburg. As part of the project, Spectral delivered a pre-integrated energy storage system which ensures that all of the solar energy is consumed in-house. Furthermore, Spectral’s energy management system schedules and controls the battery, heat pumps, and the largest appliances in the building in order to manage peak power demand, enabling Blijburg to considerably reduce their demand charges by using a smaller, “kleinverbruikers” grid connection. One of the innovative aspects of the microgrid is the integral VRV heat pump system, which combines space heating, hot water, cooling, refrigeration, and heat recovery ventilation all into one system. Thus, the waste heat from the beer coolers and walk-in refrigerators is used directly for Blijburg’s heating needs, allowing for the highest levels of thermal efficiency possible. Aside from providing a highly positive business case for Blijburg, the project also resulted in more than 65.000 kg in yearly CO2 emissions reductions.