Case
Indian-European research collaboration on green energy in local communities
Published online: 09.03.2023
Case
Indian-European research collaboration on green energy in local communities
Published online: 09.03.2023
In the EU-supported SUSTENANCE project, which is funded by EU's Horizon2020 program and the Indian DST program, a number of selected villages in Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, and India are testing various sustainable solutions that are built around decentralized energy supply from solar cells and wind turbines.
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We are trying to create small local communities that have a high integration of renewable energy. Our goal is to manage local consumption according to how much renewable energy is available.
The village of Voerladegård in Skanderborg Municipality is included as a Danish test village. Although it is connected to the utility grid, residents must try to be as self-sufficient as possible without compromising their quality of life or daily comfort.
In Voerladegård, 20 households are testing different methods for storage and smart management of energy consumption. Among other things, with heat pumps and charging stations for electric cars that can be charged when there is surplus production of electricity.
By monitoring and mapping the energy consumption in relation to the energy production from wind and sun, the consumption is optimized, drastically reducing the need for energy from the power grid.
Electric rickshaws
In Denmark and Northern Europe, energy is mainly used for heating households with technology that can replace fossil fuels such as oil or gas boilers. The participating villages have therefore had heat pumps installed with large, salt-based heat stores that can keep the heat for several days.
In this way, you can store the energy that is not used immediately, and extract the heat again when production is low - for example at night, when the sun is not shining or if it is not windy. In the same way, electric car charging comes into play. Their batteries can be recharged when production is high and other consumption is low.
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Electric car charging is an essential integrated part of the energy system. They will be a very large consumer in the future, when we completely get rid of diesel and petrol-powered cars.
Electricity also plays an important role when it comes to transportation in rural villages in India – though not in the form of electric cars as in Europe, but rather as battery-powered rickshaws. In addition, the Indian villages need energy for water pumps and agricultural purposes.
Indian experience saves money in Denmark
Even though Voerladegård, unlike the Indian villages, is constantly online with the power grid, optimized utilization of decentralized energy sources is nevertheless important in relation to the increased electrification of society.
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Regardless of whether you need to run a heat pump and an electric car in Denmark or run a water pump and charge a rickshaw in India, the same type of optimization is needed to make it all fit together, keep the pressure on the power grid as light as possible and use the local electricity production optimally. Therefore, we can learn a lot from each other, even if the applications are very different.
The SUSTENANCE project
The SUSTENANCE project is implemented with support from the EU's Horizon2020 program and the Indian DST program in collaboration with universities, authorities and private companies in Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland and India.
