Have you heard of our Dutch project Schoonschip? The Schoonschip energy community is an association of 30 floating houses with photovoltaic systems, heat pumps and battery storage units in a side arm of the IJ canal, north of Amsterdam. What makes it special is the innovative technologies that enable the members to manage their energy supply collectively. Since 2018, for example, they have been able to maximize the use of their own energy generation by integrating the Amperix energy management system developed at the Fraunhofer ITWM and thus jointly reduce the amount of energy they still need to purchase.
The latest news: The floating energy community in the Netherlands has been connected to energy and flexibility markets with 30 houses since January 2025. An innovative solution from our Institute enables precise real-time forecasts for consumption, local generation and price optimization. This allows the community to trade electricity at optimal conditions on the day-ahead market. At the same time, a trader markets the 30 battery storage units on the imbalance market. This increases flexibility and reduces energy costs for the members.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer ITWM were thus able to position the energy community as a flexible virtual power plant that is able to both supply and absorb energy.
More information and details on integration into the various energy markets on our website: www.itwm.fraunhofer.de/press-release-schoonschip
Vision for the Future: Access for All
»Our vision is for the technology to become accessible not only within the Schoonschip community, but also for private households and businesses. Anyone who has a photovoltaic system, battery storage or other flexibilities such as a heat pump and electric vehicle should be able to connect and actively participate in a wide variety of energy and flexibility markets,« says Matthias Klein-Schlößl, leader of the »Green by IT« team at Fraunhofer ITWM.
With an intelligent energy management system that takes various energy and flexibility markets into account, it would also be possible to charge an electric car more cheaply, for example. The driver could specify at what time and with what range the vehicle is needed. The energy management system optimizes the charging process by charging the car either immediately or at a later time when prices are lower. This will not only lead to cost savings, but also promote the use of renewable energies and support the stability of the electricity grid.
