Grid operator Liander is one of the companies closest to the energy transition. The large and successful rollout of solar and wind energy now requires major new investments from the grid operator, which is responsible for the energy supply of 3.2 million Dutch households and businesses.
Because of the great popularity of solar panels, Liander now sees voltage complaints increasing in multiple neighborhoods – this means that solar panels are shut down or voltages on the neighborhood grid for example become too high. This is caused by the large and sudden supply of a lot of solar energy at some moments.
On sunny days, the voltage in the power grid sometimes rises so high that no more sustainable energy can be generated and used, and that’s of course a waste of the investments and bad for our CO2 emissions.
Trial with Stekker
To prevent that waste, Liander is working on reinforcing the power grid. It’s part of the transition that means one of the biggest renovations of the Netherlands ever and that we as a country, continent and world will be busy with for the coming decades. It won’t be finished overnight.
That’s why Liander is looking for other possibilities in the meantime to still be able to keep generating sustainable electricity. And that’s how the grid operator also ended up at Stekker.
Liander and Stekker are now conducting a trial in different key neighborhoods in the Netherlands, where we look at whether smart charging and smart electricity consumption can contribute to solving the overvoltage problems on the power grid.
Liander does a number of measurements in a neighborhood, and sends letters to the residents there to introduce people to smart electricity and the Stekker app. After four weeks Liander does another measurement to see if electricity consumption has changed. Liander hopes to see the effect of smarter energy consumption reflected in the figures.
In collaboration with Stekker Liander wants to analyze how the smarter charging of electric cars via the Stekker app has contributed. Around September 2023 Liander tests how many neighbors have responded to the call and whether we see the voltage complaints decrease.
With our app, car owners can namely charge their electric vehicles at the smartest times of the day. By linking the app to an energy contract with variable tariffs, users can also financially benefit maximally from favorable electricity prices at certain times.
Also want to help stabilize the power grid and consume more solar energy? With the Stekker app you automatically charge your electric car when prices are low and electricity is green. The app also gives notifications when it’s best to use electricity. You can download the Stekker app in the Play Store or in the App Store.
