TU Delft starts top research facility for energy system of the future

The energy transition is one of the greatest societal challenges of the century. Developments such as decentralised energy generation, electrification, storage, conversion and the large-scale use of electric cars will make new demands on the electricity system of the future. Ensuring the reliable, sustainable and affordable integration of these new technologies in the future electricity grid demands knowledge of, and insight into, the system. Research and innovation are vital conditions for working together with the market to develop the energy system of the future.

ESP Lab

TU Delft is rebuilding its High-Voltage Research Facility – currently the best equipped academic laboratory for high-voltage research in Europe – to create the new Electrical Sustainable Power Lab (ESP Lab). The university is actively seeking collaboration with the leading players on the energy market, and TenneT is the first of these to sign a partnership agreement. Within TU Delft, various parties from the Delft Energy Initiative will be working together in the ESP Lab, such as Duwind, Urban Energy, e-Refinery and Powerweb.

Societal impact

“I am proud that TU Delft is working together with TenneT on a laboratory that will have such a huge societal impact. The ESP Lab will make an important contribution to creating an electrical energy supply that is available at all times and to all people via a ‘SMART Power Grid’”, says John Schmitz, dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.

Mel Kroon, CEO of TenneT explains, "The energy transition offers a wonderful challenge for transmission system operators. Sustainability, electrification, digitisation and storage demand a new electricity system, with a central role for TenneT. This new ESP Lab will enable TenneT, together with TU Delft and other parties, to give shape to the electricity system of the future."