When the economy is in a bad way, SMEs are often the first to suffer. They can hardly get any more money. This was very extreme during the economic crisis of the 1930s. And that's why some companies founded the WIR Bank in 1934.
Here is a video (3:30 min) about the Swiss WIR-Bank or Wir-Currency:
www.facebook.com/neuewegefinden/videos/1820558081543464/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
In November last year, the property industry associations put their involvement in the Alliance for Affordable Housing and Construction on hold.
To the PM from 15 March 2017:
www.bmub.bund.de/pressemitteilung/alle-partner-im-buendnis-fuer-bezahlbares-wohnen-und-bauen-setzen-zusammenarbeit-fort
Keywords:
Housing policy
In Brütten near Zurich in Switzerland, an apartment building with nine rental flats that is not connected to the energy grid has now been inaugurated.
"The rental costs are no higher than elsewhere. The most important energy source is photovoltaic modules. Schmid had an electrolyser installed in the cellar as a long-term storage unit for the solar power. The device uses solar electricity to produce hydrogen from water, which is stored in tanks. From the hydrogen, a fuel cell generates electricity and heat when the sun is not shining."
The cars for the tenants are also largely supplied by the system.
Keywords:
Self-sufficient, Fuel cell, News Blog Switzerland, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Hydrogen
Over the past four years, the power grid on the North Sea island of Borkum has served as a real laboratory for testing elements of a future-proof energy system. Central to this was the development of energy storage systems and their networked operation within a virtual power plant. The measures were funded by the EU project NETfficient from January 2015 to December 2018. 13 partners from 7 EU member states worked together.
Forty private houses, five large buildings, part of the Borkum street lighting and the temperature control of the Borkum Seawater Aquarium were connected to PV and energy storage systems, which range from lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors and recycled old batteries from electric vehicles to hydrogen storage and low-temperature water storage. A 1 MW / 500 kWh large-scale storage system consisting of lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors was also used in the medium-voltage grid. All these storages and generators were connected to the so-called Energy Management Platform (a Distributed Energy Management System or DERMS), which is the central element of NETfficient. The Energy Management Platform allows the automated operation of the generators and storages and optimizes the energy consumption on the one hand and allows the provision of system services on the other hand.
The various visits to the island of Borkum were enriching for all project partners, who gained insights into life and living there, as well as into the interests and concerns of the island's inhabitants. They found an island community that has an above-average understanding of the challenges of the energy transition and climate change and that has its sights firmly set on the goal of becoming climate-neutral and emission-free by 2030.
On a technical level, this was an extremely complex project that required close coordination between the individual partners, most of whom did not even know each other before the project began. Participation in the project allowed partners from academia and research, industry and SMEs to deepen and exchange their knowledge and skills in a wide range of areas such as energy storage, power electronics, network technology, energy conversion and software. Several partners were able to increase the technological maturity of their products and improve their offer to customers within the framework of the project. For some, the project collaboration led to new orders or projects. Project coordinator Ayesa Advanced Technologies SA (Spain) comments:
"NETfficient was a key project for Ayesa's innovation strategy. It allowed the company to develop new energy solutions with outstanding market potential and established strong collaborations with European partners in the energy and storage value chains. We thank all NETfficient partners for their intensive work on this ambitious project and great community spirit in working towards the project goals."
The most important findings from the project are now being summarized in a handbook, which will be published in January. It can be pre-ordered by emailing netfficient.project@gmail.com.
Further information on the project can also be found at www.netfficient-project.eu. In NETfficient, the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum took over the administrative and financial project management, the dissemination and exploitation of the project results, the communication and supports the market introduction.
NETfficient is coordinated by Ayesa Advanced Technologies S.A. in cooperation with 12 partners: Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Cagliari; Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE; PowerTech Systems; Schneider Electric GmbH; Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum; Swerea IVF (from ; Vandenborre Energy Systems NV; Williams Advanced Engineering; Wirtschaftsbetriebe der Stadt Borkum GmbH; Zigor Research&Development; and follower-partner Ayuntamiento de Santander City Council's Information and Communications Department. The project is co-funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Project No. 646463.
Website:
www.netfficient-project.eu
Keywords:
DE-News, Energy storage, Renewable, News Blog Lower Saxony, Electricity storage
The Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Transport is funding new charging stations for more e-mobility in the state with up to 40 percent. Not only municipalities are eligible to apply, but also companies that want to set up publicly accessible charging stations. In Saxony-Anhalt, applications for funding for the installation of public e-charging stations can be submitted with immediate effect.
With their publication in the Ministerial Gazette, the guidelines on the granting of subsidies to promote charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Saxony-Anhalt are now in force, Transport Minister Thomas Webel said in Magdeburg on 13 April 2018.
No more than 15 minutes to the next charging point - that is the goal of the state of Saxony-Anhalt to strengthen electromobility, Webel explained. To implement this concept, the state is funding the installation of charging stations. According to the minister, the application and approval authority is Nahverkehrsservice Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH (NASA).
The funding is particularly interesting for municipalities and companies - applications can be submitted by all "natural and legal persons". The application period begins on April 16 and ends on June 15 of this year. A subsidy rate of 40 percent is planned.
The subsidized charging stations must be accessible to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They must be put into operation by 14 November 2018 at the latest and run for at least six years.
Keywords:
Funding, News Blog Saxony-Anhalt, eMobility
