Entering the energy market with iwell

The energy transition is a huge challenge for the Dutch society. Fortunately, there are various entrepreneurs who are working hard to make this possible, on all kinds of different fronts. One of them is iwell, who tackles the problematic peak demands on the energy network. With the help of a grant requested and obtained by Innofunding, they are developing batteries  with which they want to trade on the energy market.

Power balance
Trading on the energy market is slightly different than on the fruit market. The most important principle is that the frequency always has to be 50Hz: a little above or below it already causes damage to the appliances in your kitchen. Maintaining this balance is a challenge, especially when you consider that every device that turns on changes the frequency, causing the need for a (sustainable) energy source that should generate more power at the exact same time. As you can imagine, the challenge therefore is anticipating the power usage, planning accordingly, and most off all: being able to change course very fast when the predictions prove to be not 100% accurate.

Cube batteries give the power
Iwell has an innovative solution for this: placing their ‘Cube’ batteries in residential areas and connect them to the local grid and the energy-trading markets, in order to trade energy and thus maintain the necessary balance on the grid. And even more nifty: they put the batteries in apartment complexes with a lift. By placing a battery here, it can peak shave on the peak voltage that a lift requires when it is set in motion. This way, a Cube battery can provide both a smaller (and cheaper) connection to the grid for the building and a better balance on the network.

We believe the Cube batteries from iwell are going to change the world, and we were happy to help them getting a step closer towards conquering the market.

More info at:
https://iwell.nl/

Source for the pictures: https://www.de-alliantie.nl/over-de-alliantie/nieuws/2018/de-alliantie-zet-met-stroomopslag-volgende-stap-naar-energieneutraal-wonen/

This project has been carried out with a subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, National schemes for EZ subsidies, Topsector Energy carried out by Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland.