No BESS, No Bitterballen

Hockey Club Nieuwegein, the municipality of Nieuwegein, and the Parkhout 2024 committee praised ELINEX for their quick and independent installation, excellent technical skills, and communication, ensuring everything was operational for the hockey season in August. Sportpark Parkhout can now be considered one of the most sustainable sports complexes in the Netherlands. The energy supply is provided by a large battery pack, connected to 114 solar panels. A solution born out of necessity, according to Jaco de Visser, Chairman of the Parkhout 2024 Committee. "No BESS (Battery Energy Storage System), no bitterballen from the fryer," he says with a laugh. Jaco de Visser was tasked by the hockey club's board to deliver a new location turn-key by August 1, within a given budget. This became a journey where arranging power was central.

Mandatory Relocation

The adventure began in 2014 when the municipality of Nieuwegein decided that houses needed to be built on the old location of the hockey club. "The fields were already disapproved," Jaco explains. "In 2014, however, the municipality could not arrange a replacement location. It was then decided to restore the fields and stay with the hockey club for another 10 years. However, work continued to realize a new location, which we started in 2016." The new location was found: Sportpark Parkhout, at that time the location of two football clubs, was designated as the place where the hockey club would settle. "An outdated sports complex that needed to be refurbished. The hockey club would get space there by merging the football clubs. This resulted in a drastic transformation," Jaco explains. "Artificial grass was laid, the old clubhouses were demolished, and a new clubhouse was built for the footballers and a clubhouse for the hockey club."

'Sorry, the grid is full'

The challenge came in the form of utility services. They extended to the public road. The municipality, as the owner of the land, was responsible for laying the utility services on its own terrain. "We need more capacity than before. Power is needed for lighting, for the water fields, for the irrigation system, the kitchen equipment in the canteen, etc.," Jaco sums up. "The transformer house had to be enlarged. The infrastructure supplier reported that the power grid was full, and we could not get a connection. The municipality thought they could arrange something with the provider but failed. When we heard this in our committee, we immediately took action. I had already investigated whether it was possible to run the facility entirely on battery systems. That turned out to be possible. The municipality had to think about it. We indicated that we wanted to become the most sustainable sports club in the Netherlands and had no need for roaring, stinking diesel generators on our premises. To illustrate the urgency: we would not be connected to the fixed grid until 2028, with an uncertain extension to 2032. Totally unworkable."

Taking Matters into Their Own Hands

In the construction meeting, the committee indicated that it was time for alternative action. The situation was unique: the Parkhout 2024 committee itself laid out the park, with money from the municipality. On the initiative of the municipality, an advisor was hired, who prepared a report on the energy needs. "It was mapped out how much energy is needed per minute, per hour, per day, per year. This was important to come to the right installation. You cannot do peak shaving on a busy Sunday with many visitors and a kitchen running at full capacity, high light demand, and an active irrigation system." Based on the report, a tender was issued with strict conditions. Jaco: "Many parties dropped out because it was too short notice for them. ELINEX indicated that they could deliver and install everything within the requested timeframe."

The committee consulted with ELINEX and was convinced of the feasibility. The order for delivering the BESS system was placed. "In a few days, ELINEX independently set up the entire installation. ELINEX is a great company in every way: not only technically but especially in terms of communication. Everything was operational before the hockey season started in August. We have turned necessity into a virtue and may have become the most sustainable sports club in the Netherlands. We are proud of that!"