Province of Drenthe: Site-Based Governance

Selected industrial sites, their businesses and province of Drenthe together with local authorities pilot the governance backbone: a framework of agreements that structures improved cooperation and participation, and organizes accountability of the shared production, storage and distribution of renewable energy. The pilots lead to adjustment and enhancement of the governance backbone which makes it ready for adoption by industrial sites throughout the North Sea Region.

The Next generation energy hub model structures the cooperation and participation, and organizes accountability of the shared production, storage and distribution of renewable energy. This is the counterpart of the legal framework.

The Province of Drenthe has developed site-based renewable energy governance in a next generation energy hub model. Drenthe has listened to industrial sites and the businesses situated there, especially their concerns about energy prices, certainty of energy supply and the wish to have local control over energy sharing and production of renewable energy, leading to the following criteria for site-based renewable energy governance.

There is one point of contact for the initiative in formation. The initiative must have a view of at least three potential participants who will commit to a joint capacity contract.
The future cooperation between these participants should form a logical link from a technical and topological point of view, so that transport capacity can be used more efficiently.

The future participants must therefore be connected to the same substation or to the same loop in the grid.
The participants form a virtual hub in which an aggregator will always make the flexibility of the connected participants available to the distribution system operator on a call-off basis.

Companies must be willing to share data on energy consumption and storage. This must be demonstrated by means of an authorization and/or letter of intent.

Pre-initiation: Orientation

Drenthe is struggling with grid congestion due to a growing supply of renewable electricity combined with increasing demand from businesses and consumers. To address this challenge, Drenthe – with the support of GRITH - is encouraging the development of energy hubs: smart, decentralized energy systems that better balance local energy supply and demand. The province offers support at every stage of a hub's development, from feasibility studies for start-up initiatives to targeted support for established frontrunners. Through the GRITH "Net op Groen" Community of Practice, Drenthe encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing between initiatives, municipalities, grid operators, and other stakeholders, thus jointly laying the foundation for a future-proof and flexible energy system.

Energiehubs Playbook

Goals: Activating entrepreneurs to consider the possibilities of a collective solution.
Criteria:
1. Reason for setting up energy hub established
2. Initial vision and objective of the energy hub established
3. Discovery:
  - Goals: Involving local entrepreneurs and stakeholders to play a joint role in energy supply and create support
  - Criteria:
    - There’s a group of entrepreneurs
    - Relevant stakeholders identified & mapped
    - Global needs analyzed
    - There are possibilities and stakeholders have the ambition to collaborate
    - Project director or project leader is appointed
    - Political and social acceptation is mapped
    - Collective challenges drafted
    - Grid operator is informed about the results of the discovery phase
4. Research & Analysis
  - Goals: Collecting and analyzing data and technical possibilities to identify the feasibility and fit of solutions
  - Criteria:
    - Grid operator shares data for analysis
    - Enterprises share data for analysis
    - Proven flexibility potential and or un-used capacity
    - Proven (minima) match between supply and demand of net capacity
    - Proven needs for technical solutions/assets
    - Detailed technical feasibility study
    - Risk analysis
    - Results of the analysis of capacity demand and peaks, is shared with grid operators
5. Design
  - Goals: Reaching mutual agreement between companies and grid operator on the solution design and operational model.
  - Criteria:
    - Most promising solution determined and design developed
    - Agreement of enterprises on exploitation design
    - Agreement of enterprises on financial business case and individual responsibilities in the energy hub.
    - Procurement plan developed and published
    - Definitive location and spatial planning finished
    - Enterprises accorded design of the steering platform energy hub
    - Feasible technical design for the physical system agreed among the companies
    - Based on the design and initial collaborations on the energy hub, this project can be considered unique and progressive
    - Project plan and timeline for implementation developed
6. Contracting
  - Goals: Legal agreements for financial, operational and organizational responsibilities between parties to secure the project
  - Criteria:
    - Operating company
    - Necessary individual and group transport contracts signed
    - Contract phase of the grid operator integration process completed
    - Finalized implementation and testing plan.
    - Insurance contracted
    - Technical design steering platform accorded
    - Service provider contracted
    - Steering platform: contracts signed
7. Implementation
  - Goals: Establishing and implementing a stable energy hub through collaboration with the grid operator, including testing and operationalization.
  - Criteria:
    - Contract implemented via CSP in GOPACS (if applicable)
    - Contract implemented (in the systems of) the grid operator
    - Operational processes plus tools are implemented (settlement methods, bank account)
    - Enterprises successfully onboarded on steering platform and steering platform is implemented successfully
    - Steering platform has access to real-time data
    - Site Acceptance Test successful
    - Installations/assets successfully installed
8. Execution – Operation
  - Goals: Operationalization and management of the energy hub in accordance with contractual agreements.
  - Criteria:
    - Monitoring phase of the contract is started
    - Maintenance phase of the contract is started

Find the Dutch energyhubs uitvoeringsagenda Drenthe below

W2507 299-DR-Drentse aanpak energiehubs_A4_V2.pdf

Energyhubs uitvoeringsagenda Provincie Drenthe