Office building De Walvis near Amsterdam Central may have had to be disconnected from the power grid because it has a connection of only 137 kW, while it consumes 200 kW during peaks. Because of grid congestion, it could not get additional power from the power company. With the application of a battery, these problems were circumvented and it can remain open.
The Whale has BREAAM certification, which means it was built sustainably and is also managed sustainably. For example, the building is gasless, has solar panels, a heat pump, a WTW installation and charging stations. The very fact that the Whale generates its own energy made batteries very applicable. That way you get more out of green power. In this case a very nice bonus is that they also reduce the peak load on the grid.
Indoor or outdoor
Another problem was that insurance companies often require batteries to be placed outside. 'Because De Walvis is in the city center, it is not possible to get a permit to place the battery systems outside,' says Patrick Meeldijk, technical property manager at the Maarsen Group that manages the property. 'But we found a party that does allow the batteries to be inside. The batteries are placed in the basement of the building.'
