Become - Smart Business Area of the Future

Become - Smart Business Area of the Future

On the Mechelen Noord business park there are some 200 companies that together form part of a living lab with the aim of creating the “Smart Business Park of the Future”.

A business consortium consisting of Quares, Intervest, Engie and Continental will design this testing ground with the aim of maximizing the locally produced energy and the exchange
optimizing with the local participating companies so that the share of green energy generated and used increases for each party.

The participating companies located within the living lab zone will be able to experience “in real time” the benefits and operation of a local energy community.

The local energy optimization will ensure that renewable energy production, through flexibility and local storage, will be aligned with the local consumption profiles of the
participating companies. A better balance will also be ensured for the network manager and green mobility can increase due to the greater range of locally produced
renewable energy, which will greatly reduce the CO2 footprint for the participating companies.

The living lab will also investigate whether the storage capacity of electric vehicles in combination with local energy storage can be used as a reliable peak power plant.
Functionalities such as back-up power, peak control, UPS system, etc. are also integrated into the project.

This testing ground is a pilot for the research project ROLECS “Role Out of Local Energy Communities”, which will evaluate the maximum potential for energy exchange and the general working framework for future energy communities.