Many industrial parks, both in the Netherlands and abroad, are experiencing a growing demand for energy and sustainability from their tenants. More often, the typical electrical infrastructure and grid congestion are becoming obstacles in meeting this demand. However, The Green Box's smart energy system is proving that there's untapped potential in your existing infrastructure and grid connection. With support from various Koolen Industries companies, The Green Box's energy system is on its way to becoming entirely energy-neutral.
The Green Box (TGB) is an 18.5-hectare cleantech campus based in Hengelo. With over 80,000 m2 of offices, production halls, and lab space, TGB is the HQ for a growing group of cleantech startups, scale-ups, and established companies. Beyond providing space, this campus plays an important role in knowledge sharing and development, actively collaborating with educational institutions in the region and beyond. What sets TGB apart is its unique renewable energy system, which allows it to offer its tenants and users renewable energy.
Like many companies embarking on the journey towards sustainable energy and mobility, TGB started from scratch. Their first move? Generating their own clean energy with solar panels. Thanks to smart technology, these panels can be managed to use energy on-site when power prices dip and feedback to the grid when prices increase.
At the same time, TGB has been steadily expanding its AC and DC charging facilities. Today, the campus boasts 40 charging points on-site, smartly controlled based on available power. And that’s not all for clean mobility! TGB has also recently introduced a bi-directional IONIQ-5 pool car that, coupled with the vehicle-to-grid charging station, can even feed energy back into the grid!
What’s next on the horizon? We are looking further into the smart and profitable use of energy storage on campus.
If you're eager to learn more about The Green Box's innovative energy system, you can find additional details on this page.
Yield > 7 million kWh per year (1900 households)
East/west arrangement for the best energy yield spread over the day
Generation of 4 MW per hour on a good day
In combination with an extra layer of insulation and new, white roof covering
Charging plaza with 40 charging stations
Life test case with AC and DC chargers of different brands
18 WeDriveSolar vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charge points up to 22 kW
12 Floading AC chargers up to 22 kW
10 Grid.com DC chargers up to 50kW
Maximum revenue from HBEs thanks to '100% green charging power' accreditation
Monitoring and intelligent control
Stepped curtailing via intelligent control per inverter based on main meter
Automatic control based on EPEX prices
Own charging cards from The Green Box - facilitated by Deftpower
Load balancing based on available (renewable) power
Energy storage under development
In collaboration with SmartGrid, we are exploring the opportunities and business case for battery storage at this location.
"At The Green Box we will show you how you can go green with smartly controlled solar panels, charging stations and, soon, batteries and get a grip on your electricity and mileage costs. Even if your grid operator gives you too little connection or transport capacity, much more is possible than you think. We try to inspire entrepreneurs to get started anyway, because it is often possible and pays off. The various Koolen Industries companies are a great help."
Ynte de Vries, CEO The Green Box
Partners
This project was made possible by the energy solutions of:
