News

September 12, 2024

EU projects zone at ENLIT

We’re glad to announce that REFORMERS will be hosted at the EU projects zone at ENLIT, taking place in Milan 22-24th of October this year. Our coordinator Professor Thierry Coosemans will present the project in the session “New projects in the Spotlight” 22 Oct, 14:00 15:30 This session focuses on the newly approved by the EU Commission energy projects and their plans. Beyond REFORMERS, also…

News

March 24, 2025

REFORMERS shortlisted at the World Hydrogen Awards 2025

REFORMERS has been shortlisted for the World Hydrogen Awards 2025 in the Clean Hydrogen Project category, recognizing its systemic approach to energy innovation across European regions.   We’re excited to share that REFORMERS  has been shortlisted for the World Hydrogen Awards 2025 in the category Clean Hydrogen Project. This prestigious recognition places REFORMERS among the leading initiatives  that are shaping the integration of clean hydrogen…

March 18, 2025

Flexibility and Decarbonisation: the role of Thermal Energy Storage

Join the Knowledge Exchange Forum on March 20 – online, from 09:30 to 11:00   The transition towards a sustainable energy system requires not only the widespread use of renewable sources, but also solutions that ensure flexibility, efficiency, and effective integration. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) responds directly to this need: it allows heat to be stored and used when needed, optimising the use of renewables…

February 27, 2025

Towards Europe’s first Renewable Energy Valley in Alkmaar and Heiloo

By Joep Sanderink, Flagship Valley Coordinator, New Energy Coalition  A glimpse into the progress of becoming the first Renewable Energy Valley of Europe  It feels like yesterday that we officially launched REFORMERS on November 22, 2023. Now, 15 months into the project, it is the perfect time to reflect on the progress of the Flagship Valley (FV) and the exciting milestones ahead. Located in Alkmaar…

February 21, 2025

The Future of Europe’s Power Grids: Innovation, Flexibility, and Consumer Involvement

By Fabio Lovati, Dissemination team, Deep Blue The Future of Europe’s Power Grids The Future Grid Innovation Summit, organised by E.DSO on 6 February in Brussels, brought together over 200 representatives from the energy sector, including companies, associations, EU institutions, NGOs, and Member States. The event focused on the challenges facing future power distribution systems, driven by the increasing integration of distributed renewable energy sources,…

February 5, 2025

Hynoca Marolles toward hydrogen production: Final stage for design Hynoca Alkmaar

By Bob Busser, Hydevco From Waste to hydrogen production After an intensive period, the Hynoca Strasbourg test facility provided all the information needed to build the Hynoca Marolles single-line demonstrator. This plant is located near the Haffner Energy office in Vitry-le-François. The plant was commissioned last May and in July the test results showed the expected and required Hypergaz (specific synthesis gas) composition from the…

January 29, 2025

The Quadruple Helix for a small region like Alkmaar

by Harm Hofman, duurzaam heiloo   In the evolving landscape of innovation, the traditional Triple Helix model—encompassing government, business, and academia—has long been a cornerstone for fostering collaboration and driving progress. However, with the rapid advancement of digital technologies and the increasing emphasis on citizen engagement, there’s a compelling need to revisit and potentially expand this framework. This evolution prompts critical questions: Can the integration…

Project meetings

November 13, 2024

STOFF2 hosts partners at Urban Tech Republic

by Rebecca Hueting – REFORMERS Communication and Dissemination manager at Deep Blue In this short blogpost we report on our partners meeting at Urban Tech Republic last October. On the 8th and 9th of October REFORMERS’ research task leaders gathered in Berlin for an extended executive board meeting. The hosting partner Stoff2, our partner developing and building electrolyzers for the production of green hydrogen, organised…

July 5, 2024

General Assembly Report

This short blogspot is summarizing the first General Assembly that took place on 4th and 5th of June 2024; almost all REFORMERS Partners gathered at TU Delft premises for their first consortium meeting, after the kick-off in November 2023. The meeting took place in the amazing University Theatre Hall at X – TU Delft arts and sports compound, pushing presenters to their highest performing skills….

November 20, 2024

Creating self-sufficient Energy Valleys across Europe

by Sarah Arfeen (ICLEI Europe) and Fabio Lovati (Deep Blue)   We were in conversation with the coordinators of two sister projects, REFORMERS and CRETE VALLEY, funded via Horizon Europe for the development of renewable energy valleys (REVs) in the EU. Both projects manifest the potential of energy valleys to advance the EU’s climate-neutrality goals and propel the energy transition forward. The projects, both rooted…

November 13, 2024

Using ontologies to organise the data requirements for our digital twin

By Edrisi Munoz, James Allan, Hanmin Cai, and Heer Philipp | Urban Energy Systems Laboratory, Empa. In this article the Urban Energy Systems Lab (UESL) at Empa describes how the research team is using ontologies to organise the data requirements for our digital twin. The UESL team at EMPA supports the digital twin development work package in REFORMERS, leading the task: “Energy data space –…

November 13, 2024

STOFF2 hosts partners at Urban Tech Republic

by Rebecca Hueting – REFORMERS Communication and Dissemination manager at Deep Blue In this short blogpost we report on our partners meeting at Urban Tech Republic last October. On the 8th and 9th of October REFORMERS’ research task leaders gathered in Berlin for an extended executive board meeting. The hosting partner Stoff2, our partner developing and building electrolyzers for the production of green hydrogen, organised…

November 8, 2024

New projects pavillion at ENLIT 2024

by Rebecca Hueting, Communication and Dissemination leader at Deep Blue Our core coordination team has recently participated in the Enlit conference in Milan, where the REFORMERS’ project was hosted in the New Projects Pavillion and joined two discussion panels jointly with other European Research projects. The project is also hosted on the official website Go to REFORMERS’ page on the official ENLIT website On our…

November 7, 2024

Duurzam Heiloo presents the project to residents

by Harm Hofman, Duurzaam Heiloo Duurzam Heiloo presents the EU Reformers project to the residents during a public event on the 9th of November in the central shopping center Centrum “Het Loo” in the village of Heiloo. Duurzam Heiloo carries out activities related with the  design of more efficient strategies to deal with energy. Such activities are carried out in the context of the quadruple helix…

October 22, 2024

Preliminary results from Energy System modelling

By Wouter Parys, Researcher, VUB.   In this article the VUB team shares its preliminary results from the Energy System modelling done on the dutch flagship valley in Alkmaar. The REFORMERS flagship energy valley is the southern part of the Dutch city of Alkmaar. This energy valley is an around 11 square kilometres diverse region with a dense urban residential area, an industrialized area and…

October 13, 2024

Energy Valleys across Europe: The key to success lies in System Integration

For those who are not familiar with the Energy Valley concept, it can be described as a large local energy system that is decentralised and controlled by local communities, as opposed to centralised power systems. The REFORMERS project, as the CRETE financed project under the same Horizon Europe call, is a project deploying this concept while also focusing on the integration of other renewable energy…

October 2, 2024

Boekelermeer Comes Together: Addressing local energy challenges

By Shary Heuninckx, Vrjie Universiteit Brussels The European REFORMERS project aims to develop sustainable and lasting solutions to the current and future energy challenges facing Boekelermeer and its surroundings. In collaboration with local stakeholders, we will seek resilient solutions to issues such as grid congestion, energy security, and the gradual phase-out of fossil fuels. This is a complex task, as the project area involves a…

September 30, 2024

The Role of Energy Modelling in the Renewable Energy Systems

By  Alex Felice, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) The REFORMERS project aims to transform Local Energy Systems (LES) into Renewable Energy Valleys (REV), where local renewable energy sources fully meet energy needs for electricity, heating, cooling, and transport on an annual basis. Achieving this requires advanced planning, and energy modelling plays a crucial role in ensuring that renewable systems can meet these goals efficiently. Energy modelling…

July 27, 2024

REVT#5: Technology and business integration

In an ambitious step towards sustainable energy, the project’s fifth research track REVT#5: Technology and business integration, focuses on enhancing initiatives beyond REFORMERS, offering a future outlook towards Renewable Energy Valley (REV) adoption. This track leverages local expertise and partnerships to promote the deployment of innovative solutions within and beyond the Alkmaar Flagship Valley (FV) through innovative business models and governance structures. Collaborative Efforts and…

July 12, 2024

REVT#4: Innovative energy management

The fourth research track REVT#4 on Innovative Energy Management, promises a revolutionary step in enhancing the efficiency of the FV’s energy management system. This initiative aims to drastically reduce energy consumption, align energy demand and supply more effectively, and increase self-sufficiency while easing the load on the congested electricity grid. As a key part of the Renewable Energy Valley Track #4, REFORMERS will implement sophisticated…

July 5, 2024

General Assembly Report

This short blogspot is summarizing the first General Assembly that took place on 4th and 5th of June 2024; almost all REFORMERS Partners gathered at TU Delft premises for their first consortium meeting, after the kick-off in November 2023. The meeting took place in the amazing University Theatre Hall at X – TU Delft arts and sports compound, pushing presenters to their highest performing skills….

June 24, 2024

REVT#3: Serving a sustainable community

REFORMERS plans for its third research track REVT#3: serving a sustainable community, aim to increase renewable energy production and consumption across the different areas in the Alkmaar Flagship Valley. This initiative aims at transitioning from fossil fuels to greener energy sources among all types of consumers including residential, industrial, tertiary, and mobility sectors. The consortium will demostrate these solutions in the Overdie residential area, the…

June 13, 2024

REVT#2: Advancing the renewable energy system

In a significant stride towards sustainable energy, the second research track REVT#2: Advancing REV energy system is dedicated to piloting a comprehensive local hydrogen infrastructure at InVesta‘s center of expertise. This setup includes the pipelines, a compressor, and a docking station, all tailored to seamlessly integrate clean hydrogen production from HYNOCA with its consumption at NXT Mobility‘s hydrogen filling stations. To ensure efficiency and reliability,…

May 27, 2024

REVT#1: Increase renewables energy generation

How does REFORMERS plan to increase renewables energy generation in Energy Valleys? The REFORMERS project runs part of its research in the Flagship valley in Alkmaar and plans to test and replicate preliminary and mature results within the different Satellite energy valleys for replication. The research is organised around five clusters, or “tracks”. In this article we describe the Research track #1 on how to…

April 12, 2024

How can Renewable Energy Valleys impact our future?

by Rebecca Hueting and Fabio Lovati, Deep Blue Italy How can Renewable Energy Valleys impact our future? This is the question we aim to answer through our research activity. The implementation of a local energy system which shifts energy production from a centralised system to a decentralised system has been thoroughly studied across Europe, and today takes a significant leap forward with its latest initiative…

April 3, 2024

Reformers Press Release: The Future of Europe’s Energy Valleys

In a significant stride towards the European energy transition, the REFORMERS project announces its first press release. This ambitious research initiative is set to explore and develop the potential of Renewable Energy Valleys across the Europe in a large testbed facility in Alkmaar, setting up and testing energy solutions that are both sustainable, safe and efficient. In REFORMERS, larger communities including households, services, and light industries…

March 12, 2024

REFORMERS project launches its activities in November 2023

Thanks to the joint effort of 28 partners from 10 European countries, a large testbed facility in Boekelermeer business park will prove how “Renewable Energy Valleys” can represent the optimal energy system for small to medium industrial sites close to residential sites.  In Alkmaar’s “Renewable Energy Valley,” a diverse mix of more than 300 businesses and 3,000 households is currently connected to a shared energy…

March 12, 2024

Exploring the future of renewable energy : The REFORMERS Kick of Meeting in Alkmaar

On November 22nd, the city of Alkmaar set the stage for the inaugural Kick of Meeting of the REFORMERS project during an exciting two-day journey   The  first day of meeting started with a short welcome from Alkmaar’s alderman Christian C. Schouten and the opening remarks from the flagship coordinator Joep Sanderink. REFORMERS project coordinator Thierry Coosemans and the sister project CRETE VALLEY coordinator Vangelis…