Direct Current BV Winner Green Deal Award 2016

Thursday, April 14 the Green Deal Award ceremony of RVO Netherlands (i.e. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency of the government) took place during the Innovation Expo in Amsterdam. Direct Current BV with their Green Deal Direct Current Haarlemmermeer and Zero Emission City Logistics from Rotterdam share this year's award as both parties have brought about a transition in their respective fields.

"A Green Deal showing guts," the jury said of the Green Deal Direct Current Haarlemmermeer. "Moreover, it is a deal with vision, because in a world where AC prevails, it shows courage to put DC on the map. Through collaboration a lot has been achieved. The Netherlands has become a leading country, worldwide, in the field of DC; the developed case studies are widely used and provide the ability to scale up." Where jury Monika Milz adds: "It is a unique initiative based on a real breakthrough system. A small company accomplished the formation of a strong coalition and good results have been achieved that score wide on sustainability gains."

The award is the icing on the great efforts in recent years with the project at the horticulturist Vreeken Bouvardia in Rijsenhout, DC and Sustainability in the Greenhouse, that Direct Current BV started with the partners Siemens and Joulz. "Without the Green Deal this project would not have come into being," said Harry Stokman, CEO of Direct Current BV. "The Green Deal with the government allows Direct Current BV to get off the regulations to implement an innovative power grid on DC in a pilot project. Here it was also demonstrated that DC is a durable choice because it yields substantial savings in material and energy consumption. This strengthens essentially the future of renewable energy."

The pilot project was a great success that now has been continued in new projects such as Demonstration Development Energy Infrastructure DC (DOE DC) where this unique DC system is being implemented on a large scale in the Bouvardia greenhouse in Rijsenhout. The system is also used successfully in pilot projects in collaboration with CityTec and Luminext with Pilots Public lighting in four municipals in several municipalities such as Haarlemmermeer, Stadskanaal, Zeeland and Alphen aan den Rijn. Recently, also in the Port of Amsterdam, in collaboration with Eneco, the street lighting is connected via a smart DC grid to solar panels and a battery storage.

This year Direct Current BV started the realization of DC nets in utility building including Circl Pavilion of ABN AMRO Bank Amsterdam at the South Axis in Amsterdam in collaboration with BAM Engineering. This aims to be the most durable circular building with 3000m² of meeting venues with LED and solar panels connected to a full and smart DC grid of 350VDC with Current Router security, an innovation of Direct Current BV. Another project in the utility construction is the Pulse building at the Delft University of Technology where USB-C sockets and LED lights are directly connected via a smart DC grid to the solar panels. All these developments are followed with great interest worldwide and thereby The Netherlands is now a leader in the field of DC.