Direct Current BV Runner-Up NENnovation Award 2017

NEN does this during the celebration of World Standards Day on 13 October 2017 in The Hague. The prize is awarded to companies or partnerships that are actively involved in standardization and have contributed to a product or service innovation or to an innovative project that contributes to solutions for social issues.

Standardization and innovation are closely linked. Successful innovation requires attention for technological, economic, social and sustainable aspects and therefore the involvement of multiple stakeholders. Success opportunities of innovative concepts are increased by standardization and market acceptance is given a boost.

Direct Current BV entered the competition with the Current Router security system, developed to secure the DC grid. This is an important innovation and breakthrough in DC, which means that DC grids are now possible and safe to use.

A DC grid has many sustainable benefits. For example, DC components use up to 30-40% fewer raw materials compared to the regular AC components in the existing AC grid. Energy is also saved across the entire chain in a DC grid due to fewer energy losses, because the AC/DC DC/AC conversions in the existing AC grid are no longer required.

All these benefits contribute to reducing social costs: Energy and electricity grids become cheaper for the user and grid operators. Because DC components require fewer raw materials in manufacturing, this also means reduced environmental impact. And DC components are intrinsically more sustainable in use than AC components. It will also contribute to social involvement, in particular social awareness in energy saving and sustainability.

Projects that are equipped with the Current Router include:

• the Circl, circular building of ABN AMRO in Amsterdam;
• Pilot projects with a total of 1800 street lighting in Haarlemmermeer, Alphen aan den Rijn, Stadskanaal and Zeeland, where major cost and energy savings have been demonstrated;
• DC Flexhouse in Limburg, a project in which existing homes are being renovated;
• the Pulse building of Technical University of Delft;
• DC growth lights on a smart DC grid in a greenhouse of 2.2 hectares in Haarlemmermeer.

Direct Current BV is actively involved in standardization for DC. Director Harry Stokman is a member and chairman of the NEN 1010 DC Working Group he co-founded in 2013. The group was formed thanks to the Green Deal of the Ministry of Economic Affairs with Direct Current BV. In the DC working group, the NEN 1010 DC NPR has been established for DC installations. DC and the DC grid operate on a different principle than AC and the existing AC grid, as a result of which the existing NEN 1010 was not fully applicable to the new developments in the field of DC voltage. Thanks to the NEN 1010 DC NPR, it is now possible to put DC installations into operation in accordance with regulations.