Thor Park is a new science and business park on a former mining site.  ​In the last decade, Thor park became the home base for energy research and labs, events, technology training and an entrance port for the national park ‘Hoge Kempen’. Currently, Thor NV is developing the Smart Manufacturing Campus and preparing the roadmap towards a carbon neutral research and business park.​

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Primary objectives of this site:​

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Thor will be the test location for integrating independent buildings to a common ICT platform to make them controllable as a Local Energy Community (LEC) which can actively participate in energy markets. Next to the technical aspects also the value chain, roles and local agreements on sharing investments, benefits, costs and liability will be discussed and challenged. ​

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Main goal for this project is to setup a Demand Response System (DRM) system and develop smart algorithms for EV charging, based on renewable energy generation, PV self-consumption, price signals and forecasts. In a first phase, this will be only for the EnergyVille 1 building. In a second phase it will be investigated to apply this to multiple buildings and charging locations within Thor. ​

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Partners: ​

VITO (test site leader),

Aspiravi Energy,

KU Leuven,

ABB,

IMEC.

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Links:

Article about Thor being the first regulatory sandbox in Belgium (in Dutch)