Julie van den Brink

Project title: Increasing flexibility on the congested power grid of Amsterdam

The research is focused on investigating the societal impact of transport scarcity in the electricity system of highly populated urban areas, using Amsterdam as a case study. Transport scarcity occurs when the capacity of the electricity infrastructure is insufficient to meet demand and/or supply. In Amsterdam, the expansion of the electricity grid has not been keeping up with the explosive growth of electricity demand caused by urbanization and the energy transition. As a result, there are transport restrictions for large electricity consumers (>3*80A) in the whole north and west regions of the city  The research seeks to understand the various dimensions of transport scarcity and how it affects different aspects of the society, such as the economy and the environment. I will take a mixed methods approach, conducting interviews and a geodata analysis in GIS utilizing (some kind of) sustainable impact assessment framework to analyze the impact of transport scarcity in Amsterdam, with the ultimate goal of providing insights and recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders on how to address this issue. It requires a requires a systems-level approach that takes into account the complex interconnections between energy use, economic activity, and social outcomes.