Fluvius publishes electrical capacity guide for businesses
Grid company Fluvius is launching an online "capacity guide" that shows under what conditions companies can take off or inject onto the medium-voltage electric grid throughout Flanders. This is important info for companies needing a heavier grid connection or looking for suitable locations for charging station parking or wind and solar farms. The application is offered as open data and is available via the website of Fluvius.
Due to climate change, we are moving away from fossil fuels such as fuel oil or natural gas in the coming decades and mostly replacing them with electricity. The whole of society is going through this energy transition step by step, which will also put pressure on electricity grids. That is why Fluvius is already building the networks for tomorrow today, through numerous grid investments in the coming years.
Important for businesses, not families
Companies looking to invest in new operations, or switch from natural gas to electricity, sometimes need large electrical capacities or just want to inject lots of locally generated green power. Through a proactive investment plan Fluvius will provide additional grid capacity in the coming years while ensuring that the available capacity can be used to its maximum potential. These efforts are necessary to avoid capacity problems on the power grid in the long run.
"But even more is needed: we also need to offer sufficiently transparent information about the connectivity of new projects to our medium-voltage grids," says Lieven Degroote, head of grid development at Fluvius. "Through our capacity guide, we offer concrete insight into this. For companies, but also for local authorities, power producers, energy service providers and other stakeholders, this is a tool for better planning and a smoother connection process."
Important: the application only provides a view of the current state of the medium-voltage grid but not the future one. It only takes into account a margin to accommodate growth on the underlying low-voltage grid, to which households and small businesses are connected. So planned grid investments or future changes in consumption or injection by medium-voltage customers cannot be seen in the tool. Anyway, any heavier or new connection requires prior study. Large companies connected directly to the high-voltage grid can contact high-voltage grid operator Elia.
Looking ahead is the message
On the Flemish medium-voltage grid, there are no major problems in terms of available capacity today. Nevertheless, demand for large electrical power has been very high in recent years and we are gradually approaching saturation point, for example in West Flanders. Additional investments are therefore needed in the overhead high-voltage networks, which obviously takes time.
"We ask entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to look as far ahead as possible at their future energy needs and possibly link it to a concrete roadmap and growth scenario," says Lieven Degroote. "Ditto for engineering firms and project developers working on business parks and parks. The faster and more focused we can estimate what electrical capacity they will need when, the better we can match our investments accordingly. Matching supply and demand optimally and avoiding long waiting times will certainly be a challenge in the coming decades. Fluvius is committed to being transparent about grid capacity, investing on time and working out possible alternative solutions for specific bottlenecks. It is also working on a framework and concrete services for flexible applications that can also be a tool for local congestion management and increased grid capacity."
What exactly does the new capacity indicator show?
The capacity guide contains three layers of information:
- A map of the Flemish Region with, for each plot and for different capacities, an indication of the expected lead time, cost price and distance to the medium-voltage grid that can be connected. This allows an interested company to quickly get a first view of the impact of a particular project.
- The technical information on available capacity on the medium-voltage grid in terms of off-take and injection, without additional grid investment. The company's own customer cubicle may also need to be reinforced.
- Information about the remaining reception capacity of transformer substations. Such a substation is always the interconnection point between Fluvius' medium-voltage grid and Elia's high-voltage grid.
For and by corporate clients
To build the new capacity guide, Fluvius enlisted the help of several corporate clients. They were surveyed in advance and gave their input on the features. Their feedback especially helped to make the application as accessible and user-friendly as possible.
Background: how do companies connect to the medium-voltage grid?
Fluvius' distribution grid has several nodes from which households and businesses are supplied with power, such as transformer stations, switching stations and distribution cabins (see diagram).
Businesses are often connected to the high or medium voltage network. Then a cable runs from a transformer station or switching station to their own customer cabin. This acts as a kind of large fuse box from which all business activities (machinery, refrigeration, electric vehicles, (heat) pumps, lighting ...) are supplied with electricity. And that also works in the other direction, for example, to inject green power from their solar roofs or wind turbines.
The more consumers and green electricity production the company has, the higher their power and the heftier the electricity connection must also be. Thus, if a company wants to start or expand new operations, or convert current oil or natural gas-fired plants to electricity, it will also need to have a sufficiently hefty electricity connection, and new power lines may need to be built. Such investments in medium-voltage grids based on customer demand will continue to be needed in the coming years.
Due to the energy transition, the demand for more electrical capacity is increasing substantially. Therefore, grid operators need to adapt and invest in their grids to meet that demand. They also want to communicate transparently about available capacity so that companies can estimate it as best they can in advance.
Fluvius' capacity indicator provides an indicative picture of the current state of the medium-voltage electrical grid. Depending on new investments, the application is systematically updated. As soon as corporate clients have a vision and a view on energy volumes they will need in the future, they can turn to Fluvius for more concrete details or a more in-depth study that examines connection options.
Björn Verdoodt