Click here to see the photo album of the launch event.
The launch event had several interesting presentations of Hugo Thienpont (Vicerector Innovation & Industry Relations at the VUB), Marc Noppen (CEO UZ Brussel), Jimmy Van Moer (Manager Energy & Technical Innovations UZ Brussel), Katrien Even (Partner at PowerPulse), Johan Hanssen (Secretaris-generaal EWI), Frederik Loeckx (Managing Director at Flux50) and Joeri Van Mierlo (Head of VUB’s Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre).
Last but not least, VUB rector Caroline Pauwels welcomed Minister of Energy Bart Tommelein, who had the final speech at the launch event. His speech was about today’s evolutions in energy and which position Flanders may have in this evolution.
Green Energy Campus
The core of the project in Zellik is the Green Energy Campus. There will be a multifunctional research building that gives the faculties a platform to create innovative techniques. The research will mainly be focused on smart grid, energy storage and green mobility. The building itself becomes a model of sustainability and is integrated in the green environment. It will also include one or more supercomputers connected with the Flemish fiber network. More than 10.000 solar panels and wind turbines will create green power for the datacentre.
The Green Energy Campus is Europe’s largest CO2 neutral smart grid incubator. In the next twenty years, the project will bring technologies, companies and scientists together in an operational, CO2 neutral microgrid. Creating solutions for the future of the society is the main goal of the project.