Background:
Many of the electrical substations in the Port of Amsterdam region are currently being used by companies at their maximum contractual capacity. Actual congestion is also occurring in some substations. In simple terms, a congestion can be defined as when the demand by users connected to a substation exceeds the power that the substation can provide.
For as long as there is congestion or substation capacity gets reduced to its minimum, companies in the area cannot expand activities. Nor can they follow through on electrification plans to reduce emission footprints. What’s more, new companies cannot relocate to the region, because if they did, they would lack access to sufficient power infrastructure.
The process of improving substation capacity and updating electricity network infrastructure is an extremely lengthy process. In both the short and long term, it hurts companies active in the region.
One approach to solving this problem is to improve the network’s flexibility. This can be done by adding physical flexibility assets, such as batteries and mobile generators. Or it can be done by using software solutions to manage and improve the efficiency of an area’s power generation and consumption, thereby creating flexibility at the substation level.
Assignment for startups:
Devise an on-demand power deployment solution in which companies in the Port of Amsterdam region can have access to sufficient flexibility assets. These assets should cover the extra power requirements for companies planning to expand activities or go through electrification plans (for example, using electrical boilers instead of gas boilers).
Criteria:
Issued by:
Port of Amsterdam, Explore & Go
