Project partners IANOS and Sustainable Ameland work on smart energy system

Ameland is working on the energy system of the future in various ways. Among others, through the European IANOS project and Covenant Sustainable Ameland. On Friday 2 September, project partners from these two initiatives met on Ameland. The aim? To inform each other and talk about the latest developments.

IANOS project

IANOS stands for ‘Integrated Solutions For Decarbonisation and Smartification of Islands’. Through the IANOS project, Ameland is working with other European islands to develop an ICT platform called a Virtual Power Plant. Through the Virtual Power Plant, the intention is to cleverly link the generation of sustainable energy (e.g. Ameland Solar Park, the solar panels on the homes of residents and entrepreneurs, hybrid heat pumps) to the demand for energy. This is advantageous because the use of locally sustainably generated energy can then be maximised.

Step by step

The development of the Virtual Power Plant is proceeding step by step. To arrive at the ICT platform, for instance, technology is needed that can read how much power is generated at which installation. For a good balance between supply and demand for sustainable energy, it may be useful to temporarily ‘switch off’ locations where sustainable energy is generated or store it in a battery or as hydrogen. This then requires offsetting revenues and costs. Thus, the platform ultimately consists of many facets that need to communicate with each other in the right way.

Project partners

Some of the project partners present gave an update on their part in the IANOS project. TNO explained how to arrive at a smart model and connections between energy system components. ReFlex addressed how to connect installations to ICT software. RePowered talked about the commercial side and marketing of green energy. The AEC paid attention to communication and participation on Ameland and the 2Token project. SeaQurrent gave an update on the development of the Tidal Kite. SUWOTEC talked about the battery they are developing to store renewable energy. Municipality of Ameland discussed the sustainability programme with which the municipality gives direction to its frontrunner ambition.