On July 14, 2022 the building Republica in our Lighthouse City Amsterdam celebrated reaching the highest point (topping out) with the so-called “pannenbier” (literal Dutch translation: “(roof) tile beer”). Together with future residents and users, the Republica flag was raised to the highest point of the building.
‘pannenbier’
Reaching and celebrating the highest point was a special moment, especially given the difficult working conditions of the recent years. At the beginning of 2020, just as the apartments in the complex went on sale, Covid-19 hit the world with full force and a period of strong economic uncertainty started. Not only for private individuals who were looking for an apartment, but also for the catering industry. Republica will also have a hotel and catering facilities. A hotel, for example, turned out to be very difficult to finance during this period. With numerous headaches, the construction for Republica started during this time and in July 2022 finally “pannenbier” could be celebrated. The building complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
An energy-positive neighbourhood
The importance of the complex can hardly be underestimated today. ATELIER aims at developing an energy-producing district. For example, the complex is gas-free and uses heat pumps and heat-cold storage for its heating needs. But actually the innovative part about the complex is that it operates with a single electricity connection to the grid. Behind this connection is a “smart grid” in which users will have access to a solar power installation of approximately 220 kWp. This battery has more than one MWh of capacity and an energy management system that makes it possible to trade energy. In this way, the load on the grid will be optimised. This is a development that meets the current problem of so-called congestion on the electricity grid, a problem that is currently also severely affecting Amsterdam. For more information, read our recent blog about congestion.
Benefit for users and the city
Republica will experience how an approach to local energy generation and electricity storage, combined with smart control, can benefit users in terms of their energy bills. But also on how this technology can contribute to avoid congestion and improving the grid stability when spreading this further. In the municipality of Amsterdam, the experiences with these developments will be used to boost the energy transition, because a lot still needs to be done to achieve the climate goals in 2030 and 2050.
This article was originally published in Dutch: Republica viert bereiken van het hoogste punt – Innovatie (amsterdam.nl)
Credits for images: Kim Nathalia, City of Amsterdam