The steering challenge: Heijmans is taking initiative in operating smart energy buildings. They begin with their modern office building, “Hive”. They’re about to install solar, (v2g) chargers, batteries and boilers. Choice of equipment is one problem ― the question of how to operate, and which goals to consider, is another. Can the building be self-sufficient? Is there a positive business case?
The uncertainty: Sunshine, building usage and car charging are different every day. With flexibility in (car) batteries and smart operation, we can act ― but to what effect? First, can the building run on its own solar power? Second, if real-time market conditions like dynamic prices are used to optimize against, what happens to the building’s business case?
Heijmans asked Seita Energy Flexibility to explore this issue via simulations. From their main questions, we discussed 16 What-If scenarios. FlexMeasures enables us to bring our deep expertise into making these problems come alive ― we build data-driven stochastic models of the problem, and we apply turn-based simulation. This realistic approach yielded insightful outcomes and fruitful discussions.
Heijmans can now contribute to the design phase in innovative projects where smart operation is a serious option.