26 April 2022

Alfen and its partners complete solar park with trading hub for up to 22 mobile energy storage systems

With its trusted partners, Alfen has built an innovative project for solar park De Dijken in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The park houses 30,000 bifacial solar panels with a total capacity of 13.5MW, enough to power 4,200 households. The park is unique: its solar energy can be stored in the adjacent trading hub so both the available energy and the grid infrastructure can be used more efficiently.

“I am particularly enthusiastic about the cooperation between Prosoldiga, Alfen, Izen and Greener Power Solutions to create an integrated project at solar park De Dijken,” said Jan Pronk, owner of Prosoldiga and solar park De Dijken. “Together we successfully completed the project in a timely and fully operable manner. IZEN delivered the solar panels. Alfen was involved in both the solar park and the trading hub. Greener took care of the mobile batteries. Greenchoice was responsible for the program and as the integrator, Spectral optimised the combination of the batteries and solar park.”

Alfen played a key role in developing and installing the trading hub, which will include up to 22 mobile energy storage systems, as well as integrating it with the solar park De Dijken. Alfen also supplied transformer substations and the local grid, including the grid connection.

“With this beautiful and leading-edge project, Alfen is making an important contribution to the energy transition by giving concrete substance to much-needed energy systems,” said Serge Kraaijeveld, Commercial Manager for Alfen Smart Grid Solutions. “More and more combined projects involving solar, wind, energy storage and charging infrastructure will be required to enable and accelerate the energy transition. Alfen’s rich experience with system integration is a key component. We are grateful to our partner Prosoldiga, as well as Izen and Greener for allowing us to work together on this impactful energy project.”

Clean energy storage and trading

The trading hub consists of an Alfen charging plaza, where up to 22 mobile Alfen energy storage systems, from its partner Greener, can be connected. The batteries can be charged directly from the solar park and can store 336kWh per battery. The trading hub also makes it possible to supply the stored energy from the batteries to the electricity grid.

The mobile batteries from Greener’s fleet help balance the grid by charging or discharging at times of surplus or shortage on the grid. Any surplus of sustainable electricity can be stored and supplied at a time when there is greater demand. If the batteries are not on the charging plaza, they are used as a green alternative to diesel generators for events like festivals and at locations such as construction sites.

“It has always been Greener’s goal to keep our batteries working when they are not rented to different markets such as the events, construction sites, EV charging or grid reinforcement,” said Klaas Akkerman, founder and COO of Greener: “In this way, the machines are used optimally and contribute to a fossil-free future. With our ever-growing fleet, we have seen demand rise for more trading hubs after the first one in Hellegatsplein. With the completion of this location, that demand is now being met in North Holland. The trading hub is located where the grid operator indicates that our energy will play a crucial role in guaranteeing a stable energy supply in the region."