We were delighted to take part, on Tuesday 8 September, in the Indian Summer Event organised by Cluster TWEED at Le Pavillon in Namur. A full day dedicated to energy hubs and collective solutions to decarbonise the energy needs of businesses and industries located on the same site, which we had announced here. Our thanks to Cluster TWEED for the organisation, the quality of the discussions and the welcome given to our team.
The results of the CE4I study, opening the plenary session
Opening the morning, Alexis Fabre, co-CEO of RaYSun, and Florine Thiry, Project Engineer at our partner Resolia, presented the results of the study carried out under the CE4I (Collective Energy for Industry) project of the Walloon Public Service: the assessment of potential energy exchanges, electrical and thermal, between the industrial companies of the Antoing site.
What the study says, for the electricity part: an energy community is relevant today, with existing assets. Between the five members studied, more than 6,000 MWh a year can be shared, i.e. 27.4% local renewable energy and an overall financial gain of more than €167,000 a year. With the rooftop solar potential deployed at three members (15 MWp), this rate rises to 34.1%. One regulatory obstacle remains, however: the current Walloon framework does not yet allow electricity to be shared between points connected to the distribution grid and to the transmission grid, which deprives the site of part of its potential. A change in the framework is needed to unlock the community's full potential.
RaYSun on stage for the pitch session
In the pitch session open to solution providers, Max Boutsen, COO, presented the RaYSun model in a few minutes: three autonomous energy communities, one per Region, ready to welcome any consumer or producer, and a manager that takes charge of the entire operational phase. Joining a sharing operation means signing, not founding.
A demonstration of the tool co-developed with Resolia
In the afternoon, a demonstration session was organised for companies interested in the methodological tool to whose development RaYSun and Resolia contributed strongly. At the controls, Nino Dupuis, from RaYSun, and Florine Thiry, from Resolia. The tool makes it possible to assess, as a first approach, the potential for energy exchanges, across all energy carriers, on an industrial site or a business park, and fits into the current framework of AMUREBA audits and studies. Around the table, the questions were concrete: what data needs to be gathered, how to read the results, where to start on one's own site.
What next?
These discussions confirm what we see every week in the field: energy sharing is not limited to solar electricity between neighbours, it is becoming a competitiveness lever for Walloon industry. If you were there and would like to continue the conversation, or if you have a multi-building site, a business park or a production surplus to make the most of, let's talk: a simulation on your real profile takes a few minutes.
Find the team's upcoming appointments in the Events section of our Media page.