by Harm Hofman, duurzaam heiloo,

The Reformers project involves two residential neighborhoods, each with its own unique approach to energy transition.

The first neighborhood is Overdie, a high-rise area where social housing is managed by the housing association. In this district, all residents or tenants are more or less automatically connected to the heating network provided by HVC. Participation in the energy system is built-in, as tenants are included by default in the sustainable heating solution.

In contrast, Plan Oost in Heiloo consists entirely of privately owned homes—mainly small terraced or detached houses. There are virtually no rental properties, which means every individual homeowner must be personally convinced to invest in more efficient energy solutions. To encourage participation, the Reformers project is offering subsidies for 10 electric home batteries and 5 thermal batteries. Additionally, 50 Teleport Home devices are provided to enable steering of home batteries and PV systems by project partner Repowered. This allows these households to participate in the energy markets while optimising energy utilisation within the renewable energy valley. In addition, the Teleport Home devices provide insight in energy utilization and generation “behind the meter” providing valuable data for the research program. 

This means that achieving sufficient participation in Plan Oost requires a deeper level of community engagement. Initially, the plan was to start raising general awareness among residents about energy issues to reduce resistance and build broad involvement. This idea led to the concept of a citizens’ council, which was described in a working paper Democracy, engagement and the energy transition. However, the municipality considered this approach too ambitious at this stage.

As a result, the strategy shifted to a more traditional marketing campaign. A mailing has been sent out, and local newspapers are covering the project. On April 5th, the team took part in a local event at the shopping center to promote the initiative. On April 17th, a more targeted information session will be held, where residents can learn more about the project and engage in discussion. Product suppliers will also be present to answer specific questions, following a presentation on the overall Reformers concept. 

At the same time, work is underway on a dedicated project website, which will host a survey developed and managed by VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). This survey will help establish a baseline measurement and will be repeated at the end of the project to evaluate the overall impact and results of Reformers.

We expect this to become a valuable learning environment, especially regarding battery systems. In line with Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovation, this could serve as an early adoption case, helping to pave the way for broader, long-term adoption of shared battery solutions across similar residential areas.