What Slim Strandnet is
Slim Strandnet ("smart beach grid") is a local electricity grid in Scheveningen Haven. It links the port control centre, the events site, the beach stadium, beach pavilions and solar panels on promenade kiosks. It includes power and fibre cables, a substation and a large battery that stores surplus solar energy.
Above all this runs open-source energy management software, developed by Kersten Techniek and OpenRemote after a 2023 municipal tender, which balances local generation and consumption in real time and connects to GOPACS, the platform Dutch grid operators use to resolve congestion.
How it has grown
The first user was the port control centre, in April 2022. In October 2024 the first two beach pavilions were connected, the first non-municipal users. The plan is for it to operate independently from the end of 2025, with an energy cooperative of the municipality, businesses and residents.
In 2025 it was one of the three finalists for the Government Innovation of the Year award in the Netherlands.
The calculation: how much battery is needed to shave a peak
The congestion problem is not total energy but power at the worst moment. If an events site adds 100 kW for 2 hours on a summer afternoon, the energy the battery must supply so the public grid does not notice it is E = P · t = 100 kW × 2 h = 200 kWh usable. With an 80 % depth of discharge, the battery should have about 250 kWh nominal capacity.
This is an illustrative example, not project data, but it shows why software matters as much as hardware: if the system knows in advance when the peak will arrive (event, sun, demand), it charges the battery beforehand and discharges it at exactly that moment.
Why it is an IoT case
Each asset —battery, solar, loads— is a metered, controllable point that communicates in real time. Without that measurement and control layer, the battery would be just a reservoir; with it, it is a tool for providing services to the grid. It is the same logic we apply in any IoT ecosystem: measure, decide and act on site.
Lessons for your company
- Congestion is fought with managed power, not just more copper: measuring and controlling each asset frees up capacity.
- Open software avoids dependence on a single supplier in long-term public infrastructure.
- Starting with one user (the control centre) and growing in phases reduces deployment risk.
Sources and references
VNG · Slim Strandnet, het elektriciteitsnet van de toekomst ↗ OpenRemote · Slim Strandnet Scheveningen (2024) ↗ Smart City Den Haag · Government Innovation of the Year 2025 finalist ↗ Óscar C. González · original post on LinkedIn ↗The economic data and results cited come from the linked sources (cases published by the companies themselves, technology integrators or academic institutions). oscarcabreragonzalez IoT Studio compiles this information for informational purposes; it does not imply any commercial relationship with the companies mentioned.
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