Smart Business Parks

Introduction

In the Smart Business Parks (SMABA) project, an integral consortium demonstrates an innovative and replicable approach for organizing, implementing, and operating collective energy systems at business parks (i.e., complied with PDA Scope A). This project provides business park stakeholders with a replicable and flexible solution to collectively mobilize renewable energy investments of ambition and scale, hence accelerating a clean energy transition on business parks and thereby contributing to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050.

Value of an Integral Approach

An integral approach enables more value and sustainability for business parks than individual – company-specific – solutions. The initial investments may be too large for a single company, opportunities for energy exchange remain unused, business park stakeholders’ interests are overlooked, and sustainability impact remains limited.

Project Goals and Outcomes

By demonstrating the SMABA concept on four business parks in the Netherlands, a total of at least € 59.9 million of sustainable energy investments will be mobilized within the project duration, resulting in a leverage factor over 43 (with a requested grant of € 1.375 million). The investments result in:

• Renewable energy production of 23.4 GWh/year
• Energy savings of 27.0 GWh/year
• CO2 emission reduction of 13,023 tCO2/year

After 5 years of project-end, the consortium envisages that the concept will be realized at 12 business parks, with:

1. 81.1 GWh/year energy savings
2. 70.2 GWh/year renewable energy production
3. 39,070 tCO2/year GHG emission reduction
4. € 179.6 million sustainable energy investments

Consortium Members

The concept is being developed by a consortium of different relevant stakeholders, namely:

• Essent (part of E.ON group), which is a large Dutch supplier of electricity, gas, and heat
• Kuijpers, which is a Dutch professional technical services company
• Brink, which is a Dutch management, consultancy, and software company