The Green Box Cleantech Campus: Innovation and growth in Q1 2024
Welcome to our latest blog post where we proudly highlight the recent progress and new initiatives at our Cleantech Campus. Together with now twenty tenants - from ambitious start-ups to established players and cleantech experts - we continue to pave the way for a faster energy transition.
Our campus offers versatile facilities that contribute to this mission, including modern office spaces, well-equipped laboratories, and production facilities where the energy transition is made tangible.
To give the energy transition an extra push, we actively encourage knowledge sharing. Not only among our tenants but also with students, pupils, and other interested parties from outside the campus. Furthermore, we continue to be committed to the sustainability of our own campus. We do this, among other things, with our 18,000 intelligently controlled solar panels, 40 smart charging points, bicycle charging points, our bidirectional pool car, and further greening of the campus grounds for both humans and animals.
Important Developments of this Quarter
This quarter, we have some exciting progress to report once again. Read more about in the Blogpost:
- The Green Box now also searchable in the public transport register
- Our own local sustainable energy system: R.I.E.N.
- The Green Box walking tour, fish forest, and visit from our 1000th LinkedIn visitor.
Visibility and Accessibility of The Green Box
Cleantech Campus Visible to Public Transport Users
Since January of this year, our Cleantech Campus is even more prominently on the map for all public transport travelers heading to The Green Box. They can now disembark at the bus stop "Cleantech Campus," which is also available in navigation apps such as Google Maps, 9292.nl, and the NS app. Together with the Municipality of Hengelo and RRReis, it was decided that this name aligns much better with our location and ambitions.
Additionally, the safety of the crossing at the bus stop has been improved. The municipality has installed two pedestrian warning signs for motorists, and the crossing route is made clearer with white stripes.
We are proud that the Cleantech Campus is now visible to public transport travelers at the national level.
Our Own Local Sustainable Energy System
Regional Innovative Energy Network Management (R.I.E.N.)
Thanks to our existing 10 kV ring installation and with all the expertise in-house, we were able to obtain an exemption from the ACM (Authority for Consumers and Markets) for designating a public grid operator (such as Enexis). This allows us to manage the grid on our campus ourselves. Which is fantastic news and especially achieved largely by our own Rien Veldsink. The management of the network has therefore been placed under a separate management organization called R.I.E.N. (Regional Innovative Energy Network Management).).
R.I.E.N. offers companies on our premises, and potentially also our neighbors outside, the opportunity to obtain an electricity connection and transport agreement. This is a wonderful provision for our cleantech companies that want to grow and green with solar panels and charging stations, especially in times of congestion.
With R.I.E.N., we are taking a significant step forward towards a sustainable and advanced energy infrastructure and demonstrating what is possible in times of congestion. Additionally, we can now determine the required connection capacities ourselves and guarantee the power supply within the required specifications. This enables partners such as Damstralab and Plugpower to conduct reliable high-voltage and hydrogen tests.
To gain insight into all energy flows on our network, we have introduced the energy monitoring meter. This visual presentation provides real-time insight into the power consumption of the entire campus, our charging stations, and the production from our solar roof. When there is low demand for solar power (resulting in low prices on the EPEX), our solar panels are automatically curtailed to the level needed to power the site without overloading the grid. This helps us avoid putting too much strain on the electricity network, allows us to remain fully green from our own roof, and prevents unnecessary financial losses during negative prices on the EPEX.
For example, in the screenshot below from the energy monitoring meter, you can see that on Friday, April 12th, we generated 10.2 MWh and already reached 85% self-consumption, and the sunny days are still ahead!
Our energy monitoring meter is located at the main entrance of The Green Box.
Connecting and Sharing Knowledge
The Green Box Walking Tour
When taking a stroll around our cleantech campus, you'll notice that several information boards have been recently installed. These boards provide detailed information about our cleantech and biodiversity initiatives. From our bi-directional pool car to the green sedum roof on our transformer houses, and from smart inverters to ecological brushwood piles.
Each board features a QR code that you can conveniently scan to delve deeper into the details. So, come and be inspired by the innovations we're implementing here at The Green Box cleantech campus.
Because we are constantly developing our cleantech campus, you'll see new solutions emerging all the time. Information boards will also be placed in these areas.
One of these locations is our fish forest. Just as we protect the creatures along the shore, we now also do this underwater. With the introduction of this so-called fish forest, we provide our pond fish with the opportunity to forage and take cover from predators such as cormorants and our resident grebes. Moreover, this underwater forest serves as an additional food source for other aquatic life, including amphibians and insects. This strengthens the entire ecosystem in and around our pond.
1000th LinkedIn visitor to The Green Box for a VIP tour with colleagues!
The number of online enthusiasts following the progress at The Green Box has grown to over 1000. To celebrate this milestone, we invited our 1000th LinkedIn follower for a lunch and a tour of the cleantech campus. The winner, Marleen, visited our campus with her colleagues from BauWatch Netherlands, where they received an introduction to the energy transition presented by our CEO Ynte de Vries. This was followed by a tour to witness firsthand how this transition is being made tangible at The Green Box.
"It was a fantastic experience to be invited as the 1000th follower to take a peek at The Green Box. During our visit, we were captivated by Ynte's engaging stories, as he enthusiastically told us about the activities on the premises. It was also enlightening to catch a glimpse of the bustling atmosphere on the campus. Moreover, we discovered clear parallels between the work of BauWatch and The Green Box. Both organizations focus on solar parks, but each from their own area of expertise. This overlap presents promising opportunities for future collaboration and synergy.
The celebration of our 1000th LinkedIn follower at The Green Box with a VIP tour and lunch was not only a milestone but also fostered a beautiful connection and potential collaboration. Do you want to learn more about the energy transition? Let’s connect."
Recap
With a growing community of now 1200 cleantech experts and 20 tenants, The Green Box is a bustling campus full of activity. And thanks to our exemption from the ACM, our tenants can continue to grow and green without hindrance. Since January, we've become even more visible to all public transport travelers heading to The Green Box.
Connection and knowledge sharing are central to our campus. Recently, you'll notice information boards popping up in various locations across our site, explaining (clean)technical and biodiverse solutions such as our fish forest.
All these developments can be followed on LinkedIn, where we have over 1000 interested followers. To celebrate this milestone, we invited our 1000th LinkedIn visitor and their team for a private tour of the grounds.
We continue to pave the way forward.
Feeling inspired and motivated to contribute? Want to learn more about our sustainability efforts? Or looking for a venue to host an event? On our campus, we offer various meeting rooms and flexible workspaces where you can enjoy a delicious lunch provided by our in-house caterer.
Feel free to contact us for more information. We'd love to tell you more.
