Groningen aims to build world’s largest smart grid

The Dutch city of Groningen has launched a project to create the world’s biggest smart grid for up to 100,000 households.

Project Floor builds on foundations laid by the city’s PowerMatching City field trial of 42 houses in 2011-2013.

“We are now looking to create a large-scale smart grid in Groningen to connect 10,000 to 100,000 households. Much larger and much more ambitious than PowerMatching City,” said Eelko Steenhuis, Strategic Advisor for Economic Affairs at the City of Groningen.

PowerMatching City was the city’s living lab. It concluded that the smart grid was technically feasible and could result in savings of up to €3.5 billion.

The work on the project was carried out by Enexis, Essent, Gasunie, ICT Automatisering, TNO and Norwegian energy company DNV GL, which is masterminding Project Floor.

“We don’t buy anything, we facilitate,” explained Steenhuis. “It is not part of a political programme and there is no mayor to say this is what a smart city should look like.”

DNV GL has asked for help from other technology and energy companies to develop the new digital energy services necessary to make the smart grid work.

In an email update on the project, the company asked for providers that can deliver such things as hybrid heat pumps, electric vehicles, smart charging stations and storage systems for electricity, gas, heat and gas. The company is also looking for a financial partner.

“We want to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship around smart energy systems. You could see this project as a starting phase to develop new business with partners throughout Europe,” said the bulletin.

Groningen is a relatively small city of around 200,000 people in the North East of the Netherlands. Unusually, it has an average age of just 35, partly a result of the two universities in the city. It has pursued a series of smart city initiatives on subjects such as open data and healthy ageing.