Radboud University and grid operator Alliander recently signed a declaration of intent for intensive collaboration. According to Daniël Wigboldus of Radboud University and Rinke van de Rhee of Alliander, the organisations were already working together due to the energy transition, and the formalised collaboration is a natural and logical step. As Radboud University and Alliander previously announced, the aim of the collaboration is to exchange experts, expertise and research facilities. In addition, they are jointly initiating Master's, PhD and post-doc projects and are working on digital technologies that can support grid management. At the initiative of students and researchers The collaboration formally started on 1 March, but is not entirely new, explains Daniël Wigboldus, chairman of the Executive Board of Radboud University and member of The Economic Board. “In my experience, collaborations that are imposed top-down rarely succeed. It works better if initiatives come from the bottom up, in this case from enthusiastic researchers and students. We then looked at how we could institutionally support those initiatives to make them even more effective.” Students working on concrete problems Rinke van de Rhee, director of business digitisation and CIO at Alliander, agrees. “Since 2015, we have been working together on many projects such as the modelling lab for third-year mathematics students. For six months, they work on a practical problem that hopefully can be solved with mathematical methods. For them, it is often their first experience with solving a concrete problem, with real data and all the associated challenges such as dealing with data quality problems and determining the exact question and context. During such projects there is much interaction. Moreover, in recent years Alliander has employed about 30 interns from Radboud University and we have commissioned ten individual projects for students. Many graduates of Radboud University also come to work for us, which we are very happy about. With this collaboration, we are doing this even more effectively and emphatically.” Unpredictable energy consumption This collaboration has everything to do with the energy transition. Van de Rhee explains why these are unusual times for Alliander. “The energy transition is one of the greatest societal challenges in history. It is having a major impact on how we work as a grid operator. For a hundred years, we've been connecting customers to our the gas and electricity grids, which, simply put, keep homes warm and the lights on. But people are now starting to generate their own energy, and the demand for electricity is sky-rocketing, partly due to electric cars. Energy consumption has become much less predictable. Consumption, generation and storage are intertwined.” Collaboration with science is very interesting “We are making huge investments in the grid: nearly 800 million in the province of Gelderland,” he continues. “But we also want to use the existing grid in a smarter, more efficient and dynamic way. This requires computing power, so digitisation is an extremely important part of the energy transition. Think of advanced algorithms and smart sensors, for example. Collaborating with science is very interesting in this regard.” Wigboldus adds: “We conduct research in data science and artificial intelligence, among other fields. There was already frequent contact between Alliander and the staff at the Faculty of Science. But now we are looking beyond that, for example at how the university can help to address the complex legal and planning issues surrounding the energy transition. We are open to surprising insights that transcend disciplines in our research. We will work together more often on acquiring joint research grants. We are good at curiosity-driven research, but would of course like to link this research, where possible, to societally-relevant applications." Cable temperature Van de Rhee cites two examples of the benefits of collaboration. “It is important to know the actual performance limits of a power cable. We investigated this with students from Radboud University by, among other things, measuring the cable's temperature. Complex algorithms now predict when a cable is almost overloaded and if it is better to temporarily use another cable, or when you need to replace it. We also did a project with students to see how the energy system behaves in Northern Nijmegen. We then contacted factories that are currently planning for possible shortages or surpluses of electricity on the grid. By reimbursing them for consuming less power or supplying more power, they can help prevent capacity problems on the grid. The algorithms have been drawn up together with the university. That project was very successful, which is why we are now rolling it out across our entire grid.” That is what he means by operating the grid dynamically. “We want to combine various types of data, draw conclusions from it and then initiate actions to operate the grid more efficiently.” Fundamental questions to make the world a better place According to both Wigboldus and Van de Rhee, the collaboration offers many advantages for students. Wigboldus: “Whether our graduates decide to go into science or business, we want them to be able to contribute to the sustainable world of the future. At companies such as Alliander, students see how they can use their knowledge in practice. This aligns with our mission: to contribute to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for everyone. We can never accomplish this alone, so we want to work together with partners, preferably from the region." "These kinds of collaborations are emerging more often, and that's a good thing”, he continues. “It's not about selling more widgets, but about answering fundamental questions to make the world a better place. This requires knowledge and experience from both science and industry. You need each other to take steps that you can't take alone.” Wigboldus and Van de Rhee are both enthusiastic about the collaboration. Wigboldus: “It is fantastic that through this collaboration we as a university can a positive impact on the world of today and tomorrow.” Van de Rhee: “This collaboration enables students to make a demonstrable contribution to solving the climate problem. How cool is that?” A slightly longer version appeared on the website of Lifeport, the regional innovation network for Arnhem, Nijmegen and Wageningen https://lifeport.nl/nieuws/de-radboud-universiteit-en-alliander-vinden-elkaar-rond-de-energietransitie/ Photo: Matthew Henry via Unsplash