The Delta Power associate professorship researches the potential of delta regions for sustainable energy generation and storage.
There are plenty of energy sources in the delta regions: running water, wind and sun. Everyone knows about windmills and solar panels by now, but can you also generate energy with water that flows, falls or moves in waves? Which technology works best? What yields the most at an affordable cost? How can we store energy and feed it back into the grid? And what fits best in the environment and is ecologically responsible? Delta Power tries to find answers to these questions through practical research.
Liveability
More and more people are expected to live in delta areas. To keep such areas liveable, sustainable use of the earth is a must. This includes sustainable energy generation. With the knowledge resulting from Delta Power's research, cheaper and more efficient systems can be made to suit delta areas worldwide.
Jacob van Berkel is a lecturer in Delta Power. He delivered his lectorate speech on 2 November 2017: 'Delta Power, symbiosis of energy and water'.
Over the past 10 - 20 years, a lot of hard work has gone into technical innovations around energy production, energy conservation and energy storage. However, these innovations are often not applicable in existing infrastructures and systems. There is a need for testing in 'real live circumstances'. Within the Z-GRID project, two campsites are developing and testing flexible techniques and innovations around energy. Think of management systems, low-energy systems and storage systems. a campsite that will innovatively implement an energy management system including energy storage in salt batteriesa holiday park that will use various technical innovations to create a natural gas-free and energy-efficient swimming pool. Advantages for entrepreneurs Not only will the participating entrepreneurs benefit, but all entrepreneurs in the leisure sector (and beyond) will benefit from the developments in Z-GRID as well. The knowledge gained from the project and tools developed will be shared widely. HZ University of Applied Sciences focuses on monitoring the applied systems and development of a valuation tool and impact model. Key deliverables are: The energy management systems developed are fully applicable to third partiesThere will be a valuation tool for sustainability that makes getting funding easierA guide of steps for making businesses more sustainable Project manager Minke Rabaut on the project: "In total, we expect the participating companies to have a combined CO2 reduction of about 260 tonnes. Imagine the CO2 reduction we can achieve if we roll out this knowledge further in the sector." Towards carbon neutral businesses Developments in the Z-GRID project contribute to making businesses CO2 neutral or self-sufficient. The project involves cooperation with Camping Weltevreden (Zoutelande), HZ Knowledge Centre for Coastal Tourism and Impuls Zeeland.
