Brainport Eindhoven spoke with Minister Jetten of Climate & Energy about the opportunities of scaling up new innovations and the need fors marter use of the electricity grid.

There is an enormous scarcity on the electricity network in the Brainport Eindhoven region. Due to the rapid sustainability and developments, the problem in this area is even bigger than in the rest of the Netherlands. Requests for new connections have tripled in recent months. This leads to even longer waiting times for an extension or new connection. Solutions were discussed with Minster Rob Jetten who visited Brainport Eindhoven on Monday 13th of March. Enexis, TenneT, Brainport Development, Municipality  of Bergeijk (on behalf of RES) and Eindhoven University of Technology were also present during the visit to the VDL Groep head office.

Investing in new concepts and smarter use of electricity grid helps with flexibility

Minister Jetten praised the cooperation between the parties present and solutions such as local energy hubs. Innovations can be deployed in local energy hubs, so that locally, sustainably generated energy can also be stored and used locally without the intervention of the electricity network.

Scaling up and rolling out various innovations

In the region, many startups and companies are working on various innovations that can provide space on the grid, such as energy storage in the form of Hydrozine (formic acid) or the use of battery solutions.

Tijn Swinkels, CEO of DENS, presented the Hydrozine technology and Powerhub battery solution to the minister. With the high level of knowledge of system integration in the region, these innovations are tested so that they can be further developed for applications in the rest of the Netherlands. Mark Boneschanscher of TU Eindhoven emphasized: “Machines and devices are also needed for the entire energy transition. This offers enormous opportunities for the Dutch manufacturing industry.”

Jeroen Sanders, CEO of Enexis, added: “In the coming years , resolving and preventing congestion will be a crucial task for governments, companies and network operators in the brainport region. This collaboration is a best practice and an important step in tackling our shared challenges.”

Climate neutral cities Helmond and Eindhoven

After his visit to VDL, the minister continued his way to the Evoluon. There he participated in the Solutions Lab, organized by the municipality of Hlemond and Eindhoven as part of the EU mission Climate Neutral and Smart Cities. Representatives of civil society organisations, companies and knowledge institutions came together that afternoon to brainstorm about how the municipality of Eindhoven and Helmond can achive the ambition to be climate neutral by 2023. Jetten took part in the panel discussion about the solutions