Internship Report
Pablo Rubio BalducciMaster Earth Sciences – Environmental Management track
Daily supervisor: Hugo Niesing (Resourcefully)
Examiner: Dr. A. Tietema (UvA)
Co-Assessor: Marc Davidson (UvA)
University of Amsterdam
Internship | 24 ECTS | Student ID: 11603917
June - October 2019
Table of contents
1. Thematic summary of the internship ... 1
2. Description of the company and the performed activities ... 1
3. Detailed report of the content of the Internship ... 3
3.1. CleanMobilEnergy - Clean Mobil Energy for Cities (CME) ... 3
3.2. Eastern Docklands Prosumer Community ... 8
3.3. Communications... 15
4. Personal reflection ... 16
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1. Thematic summary of the internship
During my internship at Resourcefully I collaborated in two different projects with the same overall objective: increase the efficient use of renewable energies by optimizing production and consumption through flexibility and storage devices. One of the projects I worked on is the Clean Mobil Energy (CME); a European project part of the Interreg North-West Europe Programme that aims to integrate renewable energy sources with electric vehicles by using smart energy management systems. The other project focuses locally in the East Harbour Prosumer Community (Amsterdam), where prosumer´s (citizens that produce and consume energy) energy data was analysed to understand energy flexibility potential and therefore minimize external grid interaction and reduce CO2 emissions. The final stage of the project is to develop a community energy trading mechanism where neighbours can purchase surplus energy (at lower prices) produced by prosumers from the same neighbourhood.
One of my internship goals was to learn (while contributing) about the different management aspects and strategies of an energy transition consultancy. The internship provided me with both technical and theoretical knowledge concerning energy transition in Europe. Furthermore, an important asset is that I acquired this knowledge while working in real projects directly with Resourcefully´s project leaders, as well as with a diverse range of partners including public functionaries, university researchers, experts from the private sector, etc. As the energy transition includes both social (economical, political, cultural) and technological aspects, it was key to get acquaintance with the main stakeholders (including different perception and behavioural patterns), as well as with state-of-the-art technology and innovative thinking. In a nutshell, Resourcefully´s approach includes potential implementation of energy flexibility, smart monitoring and renewable energy.
2. Description of the company and the performed activities
Resourcefully is a small environmental consultancy of 7 employees (including 2 interns) that aims to boost the use of clean urban energy and electric mobility systems in an efficient way by combining flexibility and strategic-innovative thinking. All these within the context of climate change and energy transition. The company develops projects and offers its expertise to support energy transition in cities. Projects range from the neighbourhood-municipality level to projects funded by the European Union involving different city pilots along different countries. An overview of the capabilities, activities and mission of the consultancy is summarized in Figure 1.
A more accurate understanding of the company is achieved through the description of the projects Resourcefully is involved. Example of projects at a neighbourhood level are the Eastern Docklands Prosumer Community and the Energy and Mobility Flexibility in a Future Neighbourhood (Amstelveen). The East Harbour Prosumer Community is a group of organized neighbours that take part of a monitoring program. The community is supported and advised by Resourcefully which identifies consumption and production patterns through smart monitoring, and thus enabling an optimal use of locally produced electricity. For this, Resourcefully developed a dashboard (Cañigueral, 2019) to visualize real time
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energy data from the prosumer community. The idea is that with this data, awareness of neighbour’s consumption and production patterns increase. Moreover, Resourcefully is working on an energy trading mechanism within the community to push smart and efficient use of energy. Despite being a local project with defined geographical barriers, the Eastern Docklands Prosumer Community is part of the EU Project PARENT (Participatory Platform for Sustainable Energy Management), which has similar study pilots in Europe. Local projects provide expertise to eventually extend the scope and replicate them in different municipalities (page 8 has detailed information about the Easter Dockland Prosumer Community).
Figure 1. Conceptual map of the company´s mission, capabilities and activities
The Amstelveen project has also a local scale. It involves the design of a future neighbourhood (De Scheg) and focuses on maximizing the future self-consumption of locally produced renewable energy. In this project Resourcefully works together with the sustainability department of the Municipality of Amstelveen who is trying to adopt a low CO2 emission model. Key factors within the project are photovoltaic panels (PVs), electric mobility, storage (heat pumps, batteries) and smart management of energy flows. The Dashboard is used to analyse and visualise this variables and indicators.
Projects with a broader scale are the European projects Clean Mobil Energy and the EV ENERGY. The first one focuses on matching renewable energy generation with EVs, while the second one addresses policies related to sustainable energies and electric mobility.
Resourcefully aims to be on the forefront of the energy transition, therefore experimentation is very important. The Amsterdam Energy City Lab is where Resourcefully experiments original ideas and approaches to facilitate products and project development that are necessary for the energy transition in urban areas. Amsterdam Vehicle to Grid and the DC-Current project are the main current experiments focusing in renewable energy generation and optimization. The Amsterdam Vehicle to Grid project analyses the potential of electric vehicles (EVs) batteries to provide (sell) electricity to the grid during peak hours, reducing grid overload (peak shaving) and adding an economic asset to the vehicle owner.
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During my internship I worked in different areas including the support of the communication channels to promote and inform about the current projects; contacting and updating information about project development to the different project stakeholders and writing baselines of electricity usage and CO2
emissions during the initial stage of the CME project. The following pages describe in more detail the different tasks I had and the projects I worked on during the last four months.
3. Detailed report of the content of the Internship
3.1.
CleanMobilEnergy - Clean Mobil Energy for Cities (CME)
Resourcefully was one of the co-initiators of the project initiative and it is currently subcontracted to support project development and coordinate efforts between city pilots. Additionally, it is directly involved in the management of the city pilot of Arnhem.
The tasks assign to me during my internship concerning the CME project were diverse, however were mainly focused on the Arnhem city pilot, which is the only pilot based in the Netherlands. I started by analysing data corresponding to the first stage of the project (baseline) in order to write a report that was submitted to the different partners and project leaders. This reported included a consumption analysis of diesel fuel during the first stage of the project and the main calculations of C02 emissions
derived from this. Moreover, I also started gathering data for stage II, however the final report hasn’t been submitted yet because partners still need to provide more data, plus the solar park in Arnhem is under construction at this moment. Despite this, an estimation of a photovoltaic year profile was realized considering the size of the solar park and the climatic conditions of Arnhem. CO2 emissions derived from
The Netherlands grey energy mix and diesel combustion were also calculated and shown in more detail below. Apart from the technical aspect, I was in contact with the different partners requesting information and reporting project development.
Project background
European cities are increasingly investing in local renewable energy production, clean e-mobility and charging infrastructure for EVs. However, peaks of renewable energy production and consumption do not match (Figure 10). This results in large energy production when there is low demand and high consumption when there is no local clean production, thus forcing the use of grey energy and consequently the emissions of high amounts of C02: more than 90 % of The Netherlands energy mix
4 Energy mix Netherlands 2018
Total energy sector and final users (PJ) %
Total coal and coal products 343.8 11.12 Total crude and petroleum products 1,158.20 37.45
Natural gas 1,285.10 41.55
Renewable energy 198.9 6.43
Nuclear energy 34.7 1.12
Waste and other energy sources 43.2 1.40
Electricity 28.7 0.93
Table 1. Energy Mix in The Netherlands 2018.
Moreover, the current situation is far from optimum grid utilisation. For this purpose, four Interoperable Energy Management Systems (iEMS) will be developed, piloted and improved in four cities. Their function is to optimize energy flows between different Renewable Energy Sources (RES), e-mobility, flexible consumption and energy storage. The 4 City Pilots part of CME are Arnhem (NL), Nottingham (UK), London (UK), and Schwäbisch Gmünd (Germany), all of them with different regulatory systems, supply and demand patterns, and particular energy markets representing heterogeneous scenarios from North West Europe. As a result of this project, it is expected that iEMS will enhance the monetary value of renewable energy while reducing emissions of CO2, hence boosting transition towards clean energy.
Arnhem
In the Arnhem City Pilot different components were (and will be) developed within CME. The first step addressed the connection of the shipyard (used for cruise ship maintenance) to the electricity grid. Next, a 10 MW solar park is being built close to an industrial area. Another component is the 500kWh stationary storage which will improve flexibility and clean energy availability during low or null PV production. The solar energy produced will be used locally for harbour activities and EV-charging within the entire city of Arnhem. The Arnhem City Pilot project aims to optimise energy (renewable) use for ship maintenance activities, as well as for EVs with the help of an energy storage facility and the iEMS. The Performance Monitoring Plan is the main guide used to register project development during the different stages. Moreover, it identifies project objectives and quantifies the impacts achieved.
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Figure 2. System components in Arnhem city pilot
Main stakeholders in Arnhem:
Different stakeholders were part of the Arnhem city pilot. Constant communication with them was necessary in order to get the data to update the project overall status.
Municipality of Arnhem CME team:
- Overall CME manager - Project assistant
- Communication manager - Arnhem City Pilot advisor - Technical advisor
Municipality of Arnhem main pilot Stakeholders:
- Harbour coordinator Arnhem - Procurement department Arnhem - Construction permits Arnhem
The public EV charging stations in Arnhem:
- Allego
The exploiter of the solar field in Arnhem:
- Share-NRG and Profi-NRG
Contractor building the storage system in Arnhem:
-Super B (Battery company)
The exploiter of the shore power connections
- Walvoorzieningen Nederland
Table 2. Main stakeholders in Arnhem City Pilot
Neither the solar park nor the storage facility where installed during the first stage of the CME project, therefore the correspondent stakeholders are not yet involved.
More participants will be involved during the iEMS implementation and improvement phases; thus the number of stakeholders is likely to increase.
The baseline is the first of three stages that will be used for the evaluation of the Arnhem city pilot in the CME. The three main project stages for evaluation are:
• Stage I: prior to the CME project (Baseline)
• Stage II: Mid-life project evaluation. After the installation of RES (solar park in the Arnhem case), storage, hardware, charging of electric vehicles (EVs), etc.
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• Stage III: End-life project evaluation: after the adoption of an interoperable Energy Management System (iEMS).
Stage I
Writing a report that summarizes the baseline (stage I) of the Arnhem city pilot was one of the main tasks I was involved. At the first stage of the CME in Arnhem, no Renewable Energy Sources (RES) were used. The solar park was not constructed yet and therefore no data in this regard is available.
The Arnhem city pilot has a growing number of EVs charging stations in the city. EVs considered for this pilot belong to anonymous citizens, residents or non-residents of Arnhem who charge their EVs in the city. Therefore, the number of EVs is not relevant at this stage and is also not available. The focus is on the amount of charging sessions and the energy used. The overall amount of energy used in 2018 for EV charging in Arnhem is 404.42 MWh. As we are considering that this electricity is coming from The Netherlands grey electricity mix, we use a CO2 emission rate of 505.2 gr/kWh (European Environmental Agency). This means that CO2 emissions per year in the Arnhem City Pilot coming from EV charging mount
up to 204,312.98 kg CO2. Average demand profile 2018
Figure 3. Average day EV demand profile (kWh) in 2018
In the initial stage, the required energy in the harbour for ship maintenance was generated by the ships diesel-powered engines. Diesel consumption by the ships occur during the low cruise season (winter) between November and April. CME partner Walvoorzieningen Nederland BV estimated an average of 500,000 litres per season (November-April). The reduction in fuel consumption and energy usage will be calculated later when Arnhem CME components (shore connection and solar park) are installed and operating, but this will be in stage II. To calculate diesel fuel consumption in kWh, the following conversion factors were used: 1 litre (diesel fossil) = 9.99 kWh (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, UK).Table 3shows the values for stage I and also for stage II, which is described after.
7 Fuel consumption
Stage I Stage II Stage III
Value Value Compared to (I) Value Compared
to (II)
Compared to (II)
Reduction in fuel consumption and energy usage. Responsible Partner: Cenex
Fuel (diesel) consumption from shipyard converted into electricity numbers. 500,000 litres diesel or 4995 MWh X X X X X EVs 404,420 MWh 404,420 MWh
Table 3. Fuel and electricity consumption through the different stages of the Arnhem city pilot CO2 emissions (annual)
For the calculation of CO2 emissions (kgCO2e) from ship diesel-powered engine combustion (liquid
fuel), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, UK source was also used. Therefore: 1 liter (diesel fossil) = 2.67193 kgCO2e
Stage I Stage II Stage III
Value Value Compared to (I) Value Compared
to (II)
Compared to (II)
Annual CO2e emissions. Responsible Partner: Cenex
EV Charging Electricity (kgCO2e)
204,312.98 204,312.98 X X X X
Cold ironing (kgCO2e) X 973,378.94
Liquid fuel (kgCO2e) 1,335,965 X X X X X
Total (kgCO2e) 1,540,277.98 1,177,691.92 362,585.08
Table 4. Annual C02 emissions through the different stages of the Arnhem city pilot
To calculate the initial energy consumed and the consequent emissions of CO2 in stage I, both the diesel
used in the harbour for ship maintenance and the grey energy used for EV charging were considered. The combination of both resulted in 1,540 ton/year.
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Stage II (Preliminary results)
In stage II, the ships in Arnhem are not using diesel-powered engines anymore for their own maintenance. Instead, they are connected to the shore and therefore connected to the grid. Electricity consumption by the ships occur during the low cruise season (winter) between November and April. In 2018 (November-April), 1926.72 MWhwere consumed by the ships in the harbour. This consumption data was provided by CME partner Walvoorzieningen Nederland BV.
Using the same conversion factor for The Netherlands energy mix, electricity consumed by the ships in the harbour was equivalent to 973,378.94 kg CO2. For stage II, the energy used for EV charging in Arnhem is the same as for stage I. Therefore, 404.42 MWh = 204,312.98 kg CO2.The combination of both is
1,177,691.92 kgCO2e, which represents 362,585.08 kgCO2e less compared to stage I.
Currently, the City of Arnhem is evaluating the possibility of installing more EV chargers in the city. Furthermore, Arnhem is considering different uses for the surplus energy generated by the 10 MW solar park.
3.2.
Eastern Docklands Prosumer Community
Resourcefully works (and experiments) in energy transition at community level in the Eastern Docklands in Amsterdam. In a nutshell, the company stimulates and supports energy transition in this neighbourhood from different fronts: smart-monitoring of energy flows; integrating local energy production (PVs) and consumption; creating prosumer awareness of self-production and consumption traits; encouraging flexibility by promoting and assessing the influence of storage facilities (EVs batteries and heat pumps); balancing the grid; etc.
My work within the Eastern Docklands Prosumer Community and the interconnected projects was diverse. The range of responsibilities assigned to me included communication between project partners and stakeholders, writing summaries of the outcomes (flexibility potential) from the prosumer data analysis, assisting in different daily tasks of project management including the presentation of the preliminary results to the prosumer community, assessment of grid connection costs for different household types, among other daily tasks.
Background
The East Harbour Prosumer Community is an initiative of Resourcefully and Utrecht University which came up during the implementation of the EU Project PARENT in Amsterdam. The main goal of PARENT in Amsterdam was to create energy usage awareness by providing neighbours the opportunity to reduce their consumption throughout a monitoring program that gave them access to their main energy usage patterns.
The community is an organized group of neighbours that consume and produce electricity and that are constantly monitored to determine consumption and sufficiency. Increasing awareness of
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production and consumption patterns is a basic step towards the optimization of decentralized energy resources (DER).
Currently, the community consist of 23 prosumers, 65 kW of energy production capacity coming from the photovoltaic installations, 3 EVs and 3 heat pumps.
Figure 5. PV installation Watt Peaks in Borneo Island (Eastern Docklands)
Resourcefully and the Eastern Docklands Prosumer community
Resourcefully is the main advisor of the community and provides technical and management support. It is responsible of keeping the project going and for that organizes meetings with prosumers, elaborates newsletters and it is actively involved in community engagement. Concerning the technical aspects, it is involved in the analysis of consumption behaviour which is possible due to the monitoring appliance installed in each of the neighbour’s households participating in the project. To analyse this data Resourcefully developed an open source tool: the energy & mobility dashboard. The dashboard helped to visualise real energy data in the neighbourhood and it is used to optimise energy flows throughout different flexibility factors like smart charging of EVs, heat pumps, stationary storage, etc. We focused on defining the benefits, limitations and challenges of implementing consumption flexibility within the community.
I participated in the presentation of the main programme outcomes to the prosumer community for which the data collected during the PARENT project was used. Moreover, this presentation also included a technical assessment of roof suitability for PVs in the neighbourhood done by University of Utrecht master students under the supervision of Dr Tarek Alskaif. I worked in the description of the data used for the main outcomes of the PARENT project as well as the methodology used to analyse it.
Solar energy potential
A technical analysis (Van der Himst et al, 2018) was also presented to the community for which I extracted the main relevant outcomes to be highlighted during the meeting (also published in the website). This analysis determines rooftop PV installation potential in the Eastern Docklands and it was possible using
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ArcMap and combining Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and aerial images. The main outcomes from the technical analysis are:
- 21.8MWp potential > ¼ total energy consumption in the Eastern Docklands. - > 84% would be consumed directly in ED without interacting with external grid.
- The current installed capacity of PV is 890 kWp, representing only 4% of the technical potential (private homeowners and HOAs have the highest share).
Figure 6. Roof suitability for PV installation in the Eastern Docklands. Optimal (green); Acceptable (blue); Unsuitable (red). Source: Realizing the Solar Energy Potential of the Eastern Docklands, Amsterdam. Utrecht University.
A distinction between Rooftops ownership was stablished to identify their singularities in terms of potential, barriers and deployment rates:
- Private
- Housing corporation
- Homeowners Associations (HOAs)
- Businesses
Figure 7 and Figure 8 show PV installation evolution from 2010 to 2018 by type of ownership and technical potential and installed capacity of PVs, respectively.
11 Figure 7. PV capacity (kWp) per type of ownership (2010-2018)
Figure 8. Technical potential and PV installed capacity per type of ownership (2018)
Another important part of the project was a qualitative social analysis where the main barriers for PV installation in the neighbourhood were studied. Different barriers were particularly important depending on the type of ownership. For homeowners’ associations, slow decision making was identified as the first constrain to install or even decide on the installations of PVs. In this regard, facilitating and supporting the decision-making process was identified as crucial. For individual homeowners’ associations and housing corporations, the financing of solar panels constitutes the biggest barrier. More factors that concerns all types of ownership are future and uncertain changes in net metering regulation; technical aspects and lack of interest.
On the other hand, the success factors identified were intrinsic motivation; increase of environmental awareness; economic benefits and finally success stories, especially when they come from the same neighbourhood. The importance of better understanding the main barriers to install PVs is crucial for the
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design of strategies to tackle people that are still reluctant of the benefits. Currently, a more in-depth qualitative study is being realized.
Presentation of results, main issues and solutions
The prosumer community website (https://prosumers.nl/#overview) sums up real live data of prosumer´s production, consumption, self-consumption and self-sufficiency. As mentioned before, acquainting prosumers with these indicators and the continue mismatch between production and consumption are key to engage people with clean energy, therefore the importance of simplifying the results so that prosumers can take the most suitable actions to increase self-sufficiency.
The energy and mobility dashboard facilitated the analysis of flexibility influence in the prosumer community. This tool makes it easy for the non-expert end user to understand the real impact of adding flexibility to their system. In order to start the flexibility assessment, it was necessary to identify the consumption patterns and energy profiles on a daily and year basis.
Throughout the dashboard it was identified that EVs will present a big risk to overload and collapse the grid. The dashboard showed that with only 3 EVs in 23 households, the electricity demand increased by 19 %. Therefore, grid overload is foreseen as a very likely short-medium term threat assuming that more people will have EVs in the future. Figure 9 was taken from the dashboard and shows how electricity demand of EVs is extremely high and easy to identify due to its high and constant power demand.
Figure 9. Electricity demand seeing in the dashboard where EVs demand (blue) is clearly identified
The company´s approach is to convert the risk of grid overload into an opportunity throughout vehicle to grid technology. The idea behind is based on the usage of EVs batteries as flexibility agents. EVs can be charged during low consumption hours (midday or late night) and put the energy back into the grid at peak hours, therefore contributing to ‘peak shaving’ instead of contributing to overload the grid (Figure 10). A simulation performed with the dashboard proved that adding flexibility to the charging times of the 3 EVs in the community will increase energy self-consumption in 32 % and reduce 12,1 kg of C02 emissions in one week (Cañigueral, 2019).
13 Figure 10. Mismatch between production and consumption attenuated (peak shaving) through vehicle to grid technology
Household appliances also have a big role in extending potential flexibility as the consumption curve will adapt easier to the own solar production, thus maximizing self-consumption. In this regard, devices such as heat-pumps have been identified as agents that could add flexibility through their thermal storage capacity.
Although all these flexibility agents are very important to increase self-sufficiency and self-consumption
(Mwasilu et al, 2014), the consequent economic benefit for the prosumers will depend considerably on the net metering tariff. Currently, the Netherland has a one-one situation, which means that the economic compensation for putting surplus electricity back into the grid is equal to the grid electricity consumption price. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change has already decided that this net-metering tariff will change in 2023. However, a price hasn’t been stablished yet for the electricity returned into the grid. It is expected that this change could discourage people from installing solar panels in their roof. Foreseen this consequence, Resourcefully and Utrecht University started the B-DER project, which was presented by us to the prosumer community.
B-DER
As the name says, the Blockchain based Platform for peer-to-peer energy transactions between Decentralized Energy Resources (B-DER) is a simulation that will aloud households with renewable energy generation to trade energy between prosumers or net consumers within the neighbourhood, as well as for EV charging stations. The private blockchain-smart contract architecture has been designed in collaboration between a group of researchers from Utrecht University and the EnergyCoin Foundation. An algorithm is being designed to maximize the benefits from PV household installations by allowing energy exchange with neighbours that demand it or with EV charging stations. The establishment of the community energy price is fixated somewhere in between the amount payed for conventional grid electricity and the amount received when injecting surplus energy into the grid, which makes it convenient for both sides. A hypothetical example is shown in Figure 11.
14 Figure 11. Community price fixation between the feed in price and the grid energy price.
Despite being only a simulation of a community energy market, the B-DER project needed the agreement of the prosumer community as their consumption and production data will be used to run the algorithm. Therefore, data privacy was guaranteed to the community during the presentation of the project. Data privacy is extremely important for such a project as citizens seriously care about this, especially when their data provides information about times of the day when neighbours tend to be in the house and when not, information that could be harmfully used in the wrong hands. Figure 12 is a representation of how a peer-to-peer community energy market could work in the community.
Figure 12. Example of peer-to-peer local energy market
This peer-to-peer energy exchange mechanism will be designed to bring economic benefits when consuming locally. Yet, the economic benefit will not only address the neighbours but also the grid operator, which would likely avoid investing in upgrading the grid. Hence, a local market would mean both economic and environmental advantages. Resourcefully and Utrecht University aim that the resulting platform is marketable, being municipalities the main target group.
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3.3.
Communications
Although the CME and the ED Prosumer Community projects took most of my attention during the internship, I also participated actively in communication aspects of the company. Unexpectedly, working on
communication channels to promote and inform about Resourcefully main activities, projects and goals, originated a debate to redefine the communication strategy and consequently the company´s strategy. This materialized in a serious of meetings in which I was involved together with the director and a subcontracted digital communication company. Hereby the main outcomes from the meetings we had to define the communication strategy:
Approach: 3 main steps to boost transition to renewable energies • Electrify transport and heating
• Ensure that energy comes from renewables • Smart use of the energy
Our audience
• EU organisations
• Local governments (Dutch and Europe) • Tech companies (e.g. Siemens, Allego) Style
• Professional services • Drive innovation
• Assist decision makers in complex situations Activities
• EU innovation projects in smart, clean energy and transportation • Supporting local governments
• Organising networking events for professionals • Developing and testing technology
• Fighting the ‘grid infarct’ with stakeholders at neighbourhood and city level • Supporting decision-making and defining the impact of decisions
• Defining possible scenarios, then advising strategies • Visualising complex information and scenarios • Converting complex information into clear advice
16 • ‘Boundary-spanning’: Bringing together many different stakeholders to solve problems
Due to the nature of the audience of the ED Prosumer Community (local residents) the strategy differs from the rest of the company’s projects. The communication style for the prosumers was decided to be mote story-based with the presentation of inspirational narratives or practical success stories from prosumers in the area. The messages pretend not only to create awareness but also to empower neighbours to act and be part of the transition.
The main channel used for branding and communication with customers, partners or stakeholders is the website, which is where we put most of the attention. Additionally, a YouTube channel was created to gather all interviews and appearances in television where Resourcefully´s projects are explained. Finally, I have also been responsible of updating the company´s LinkedIn and Twitter account in relation to our recent activities and publications.
4. Personal reflection
These four months working as an intern for Resourcefully have been a very rich experience from many different angles. On a personal level I am very satisfied because since the beginning I have been treated excellent. Being the only non-Dutch speaker in the office hasn’t been a problem at all for me. My colleagues have always switched to English when the conversation involved me in a certain way (or even when it didn’t, they tried to speak in English for me to not feel excluded). I was aware that Dutch work culture is very horizontal, and this was also the case in Resourcefully. Hierarchy did exist, but it was only present during the final decision-making stage and the organization of responsibilities and tasks. Moreover, hierarchy was based not only on the worker position within the company, but more on the experience of the worker on a specific area. This fact created an atmosphere of trust and genuine leadership in which is very comfortable to work. Even as an intern, I felt comfortable to express my opinion about important subjects. That made me feel valued and increased my involvement in the company.
On the other hand, working in a small but fast-growing company has been a new experience for me. Despite having seven years already, Resourcefully has started to grow significantly this last year. The number of projects that the company is involved on is considerable high when taking into account the number of employees. Doing an internship under these circumstances has influenced my personal and professional experience because it has created a very dynamic working atmosphere. Moreover, my contributions were really needed and plausible, which made my job very fulfilling as I was able to see directly the impact of my work. The learning-by-doing / hands-on experience that I had was something that extra motivated me and kept me in constant challenge. I never felt without work to do and I had the opportunity, as mentioned in my report, to help in a wide diversity of topics and projects.
Concerning the working area and scope of the company, I am very satisfied with the acquired knowledge and our positive impact during these four months. Coming from a background in geography and a thesis about soil organic carbon for the MSc Earth Sciences, starting almost from scratch in the energy sector has been exciting and challenging. During my internship I had to do constant research because many terms and technical knowledge concerning renewables, batteries and energy management systems were practically new for me. Logically, I had already a personal and professional interest in energy transition during the
17 master, however I was not entirely sure if it was an area for me and how my skills and academic background could adapt to this sector. Now, I am considering developing a career in this area.
5. References
- Environmental Environment Agency. CO2 emission intensity. The Netherlands (2016). <
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/co2-emission-intensity-5#tab-googlechartid_chart_11_filters=%7B%22rowFilters%22%3A%7B%7D%3B%22columnFilters%22 %3A%7B%22pre_config_ugeo%22%3A%5B%22Netherlands%22%5D%7D%7D>
- Greenhouse gas reporting. UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (2018) <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2018>
- Mwasilu, F., Justo, J. J., Kim, E. K., Do, T. D., & Jung, J. W. (2014). Electric vehicles and smart grid interaction: A review on vehicle to grid and renewable energy sources integration. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 34, 501-516.
- Cañigueral M. (2019). Impact of electric vehicles flexibility in existing prosumer community. University of Girona.
- Van der Himst, T., Münninghoff, S., Amelung, J., De Vries, J. (2018). Realizing the Solar Energy Potential of the Eastern Docklands, Amsterdam. (2018). Utrecht University
