Case-Based Insights into Local Multi-Commodity Energy System Integration

This paper presents case-based insights into the institutional and technical integration of local multi-commodity energy systems, focusing on electricity, hydrogen, and heat within the industrial cluster of Groningen Sea Ports in the Netherlands. A local market clearing platform, trading agents representing the strategies of industries, and a distributed asset control system were developed by extending and aligning existing technologies and solutions from industry partners while ensuring compatibility with the organizational and regulatory context in which they operate. The study evaluates both the technical performance and the institutional feasibility of the system with Technology Readiness Level 5, identifying key integration challenges and opportunities. Results show that approximately 30% of energy transactions could be executed locally, indicating potential for congestion management and local balancing of hydrogen and heat. The paper concludes with an assessment of the development steps still required to reach full operational maturity, offering insights for future implementations in similar industrial ecosystems.