At the end of 2024, partly on the initiative of the Kennispark Area Organization, the Municipality of Enschede, and Kennispark Entrepreneurs, a report was presented entitled “SMART ENERGY HUB KENNISPARK; Exploration of collective opportunities.” The conclusion of that study at the time was that there was no immediate reason for the group of companies in question to form an energy hub. However, the area analysis did reveal opportunities, for example by also looking at whether companies outside the research group, i.e. outside (only) Kennispark, could join. The advice to the municipality was to take this further and explore opportunities.
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What is possible at Kennispark
Since January, Jan Albert Westenbrink has been active at Kennispark on behalf of the municipality, working with a broader group of companies to look at issues related to a shortage of transport capacity for the realization of plans. This is done from the perspective of “what is possible.”
The network congestion working group had become dormant at the end of 2024, partly due to the aforementioned report. The board of the Kennispark Sustainability Cooperative planned to dissolve the cooperative after completion of the RegioDeal project ‘Zonneboom’. To get things moving again, the tree literally had to be shaken. This was done by holding constructive discussions, supported by data and experiences from other areas.
Creating transport capacity
We expect that the grid upgrade will take several more years. Doing nothing means that the continuity of businesses could be jeopardized if they cannot access more transport capacity to support their growth ambitions. Together with a number of members of the working group and the ‘old’ board of the cooperative, a plan was therefore devised to give the cooperative a fresh start under a new board. The focus is on solutions and investments that will contribute to creating transport capacity in the existing transport network.
In recent months, the necessary companies have been visited, discussions have been held with property owners, and energy data has been collected to gain insight into the actual load on the medium-voltage network at Kennispark.
We are now nearing the end of 2025. The cooperative is up and running and full of energy. The first potential members have come forward. The focus is on collecting and mapping the energy profiles of members. This data, combined with the future plans of the members concerned, will be used to investigate the best way to free up space on the grid. Both individual and collective possibilities are being considered.
Energy on grid congestion
The year 2025 has been a year of building, both literally and figuratively. With the efforts of Jan Albert, the municipality has managed to inject energy into the grid congestion. The cooperative is up and running. Board members Geert Wubben (chair), Jeroen Zandstra (secretary), and Gerrit Wemekamp (treasurer) are enthusiastically working on shaping the cooperative with new objectives and initiating an approach that will contribute to better utilization of the medium-voltage network at Kennispark.
The new board will keep you informed of developments and ambitions in the coming months. Already interested in the approach or currently facing an issue related to grid congestion? Don’t hesitate to contact Jan Albert: info@duurzaamheidkennispark.nl.
