Smart energy solutions & Hydrogen
The electricity network of the future will largely exist of renewable energy. Energy from the sun and wind is unpredictable by definition and brings new technical and economic challenges to society. On the other hand, the Internet and ICT enable innovations that could provide solutions. Smarter use of energy in combination with ICT is also known as Smart Grid. And this is what ACRRES is working on.
What we do?
Together with businesses, concepts are further developed, researched and tested, so as to lower the price of and improve the sale of renewable energy to the Dutch electricity grid. Here the production technology and the economy meet in their efforts to produce more wind and solar energy. Think about: storage in power to X as batteries, gas, hydrogen etc., stabilizing electricity networks, peak shaving, cable pooling etc.
The energy transition cannot be imagined without the hydrogen molecule. Because of the versatile application possibilities and the lack of greenhouse gases when used, hydrogen is a critical building block in energy systems. Also in de agricultural sector hydrogen is of great importance. Machinery used in the agricultural sector uses a lot of fuels that emit greenhouse gasses. One of the few alternative fuels that can solve that problem is hydrogen.
The jargon is popular, but the hydrogen installations that are actually up and running are rare. The market is not yet familiar with the use of hydrogen, the costs are high and regulations are yet to be formulated. At ACRRES we work on solutions for these problems.
Examples
ACRRES has a semi-off grid network. Together with partners ACRRES is working on the use of renewable energy in electric cars and examining whether it is possible to combine large-scale wind and solar power with a battery and different energy users. Because of our test-site with solar, wind, a battery and, pretty important, an electrolyser, we can simulate different operating situations. On top of the grid stability tests, also tests are done with generating green hydrogen. In addition, a feasibility study is investigating connecting food production companies to wind power directly. Also, possibilities are being examined to store (wind) energy in refrigeration / freezers and cooking processes. Furthermore we own a forklift truck powered by hydrogen that is being used for agricultural work. With the forklift truck we gain experience with hydrogen as it would be used in real commercial businesses.
Partnership
The existing facilities (wind turbines, solar PV, electrolyser, smart energy & hydrogen users, private network of 150 KW, large amount of space, good permits, numerous testing possibilities, demonstration opportunities and knowledge of economic models) in combination with our experience as practical researchers, makes ACRRES a unique starting point for the further development of Smart Energy & Hydrogen concepts.
Interested?
Curious about the possibilities surrounding the energy transition? Contact Andrea Terbijhe, tel.: 0320-291532, E-mail: andrea.terbijhe@wur.nl
Curious about the possibilities surrounding hydrogen? Contact David Meijvogel, tel.: 0320-291105, E-mail: david.meijvogel@wur.nl
Related projects
- National Hydrogen Day February 6th 2020 - Hydrogen is the multitasker. There is a need for more sustainable electricity, heat and sustainable transport fuels, but the electricity network is reaching its limits. In addition, the transport sector and agriculture are looking for a sustainable alternative to diesel. Finally, there is a storage problem, as there is a lot of energy supply in…
- Agriculture as a flywheel for energy transition - In the public private partnership (PPP) 'Agriculture as a flywheel for the energy transition' we are working with companies from the agro and energy sector on concrete tools for agricultural entrepreneurs to integrate sustainable energy production and storage into agricultural business operations. This is done through innovations at company level (integration in business operations), in…
Energy transition in practice tested at Switch - Switch is the field lab for the energy systems of the future. The knowledge and experience of ACRRES are combined with the energy expertise of TNO. Switch offers on a semi-full scale the same energy sources and production profiles as large parks such as those realized on land and at sea. The 6 small wind… 
Hydrogen in agricultural businesses – Hydrogen forklift truck - At the site of ACRRES common agricultural work is performed. A machine that is used a lot for these activities is the forklift truck. There are forklift trucks that are powered by diesel, electricity and, to a lesser extent, hydrogen. The advantage of a diesel forklift truck is that the filling of fuel goes quickly.… - Agrophotovoltaics: Smart combinations of solar energy and agriculture - Agrophotovoltaics (APV/agriPV) means combining agriculture and energy production by solar panels. Background: Large scale production of sustainable energy in solar parks attracts a lot of attention. Current techniques not only facilitate energy production from solar parks but offer opportunities for combining them with agricultural practices leading to new profitable and sustainable business cases. Locating solar…
- EnergyKeeper - EnergyKeeper is a Horizon 2020 project which will run for three years. Its main goal is to design, develop and test a new scalable and sustainable flow battery based on organic redox active materials. In the design of redox flow batteries, reactants and their products are placed outside the battery housing. This provides the possibility…
- The CSGriP project (Cellular Smart Grid Platform) - The Cellular Smart Grid Platform (CSGriP) project aimed to make the electricity grid more reliable by using the grid frequency as communication signal between autonomous cells. By using the grid frequency as a control signal for prosumers (i.e. producers and consumers), no other communication (central or external) is required for safe and reliable operation (e.g.…
- Storage wind power in cold or heat - The Lelystad food companies MARFO and McCain would like to know whether it is interesting to directly link the wind energy from Wageningen University & Research to the production of frozen meals and fries respectively. Together with Sparkling projects, ACRRES carries out a feasibility study showing whether a direct link with wind energy is viable.…
- NetWORK - Innovative NetWORK examines regional energy systems to fit wind and solar energy more efficiently into the power grid using storage. In the coming decade a very large capacity of wind energy will be realised in Flevoland. There is strong growth in solar energy as well. The integration of this unpredictable energy puts great demands on…
- Test Location Lelystad Zonneweide (solar field) - Since 2011, ACRRES has been testing, monitoring, demonstrating and comparing the profitability of different types of solar panels and free field installations on the Zonneweide (solar field) in Lelystad. The results are publicly available. There is room on the Zonneweide to test and demonstrate new systems. For more information please contact Joanneke Spruijt, tel.: 0320-291357.
