Not even half a second can chipmaker NXP go without power. Because if there is no power for even a moment, the factory shuts down. That results in a "gigantic" financial loss, says Jean Schreurs, its managing director. Chip factory NXP therefore wants to buy power from its future neighbours.
Author: Jacqueline van Ginneken
The Nijmegen plant will soon be in the middle of a new residential area to be built, which is to include more than five thousand houses. The plan is to put 10,000 solar panels on roofs. The electricity this generates, the factory plans to buy for its own use. That should provide a more stable and reliable energy supply. In this way, NXP is creating its own 'solar park'. Those solar panels may provide only a fraction of the chip factory's energy needs, namely 7 per cent. But important for the chipmaker. "The power grid is unstable. If there is a power dip in the grid, even if it's just a mini-second, the factory fails. The cost of that is huge. We are talking about 100,000 to 200,000 chips that are then unusable and the damage increases rapidly. We have to prevent that," outlines Jean Schreurs, top executive of NXP Netherlands.
The chipmaker has long been concerned about the security of electricity supply, which is under pressure. NXP is in conflict with Tennet, the national manager of the power grid, as the Nijmegen-based factory wants an exception when the frequency on the grid is very low. Meanwhile, NXP sees opportunities for its own 'solar park'. The factory is on the Winkelsteeg industrial estate, which will be transformed into a new residential area in the next few years, with the first flex-homes rising before the summer. The 10,000 solar panels should be placed on the newly built houses. Some of the solar energy should then be stored in huge batteries.
The power that is left over, i.e. that future residents do not use themselves, NXP then wants to buy. People with solar panels now supply the unused generated energy back to the energy supplier and get money for it. However, this so-called net-metering scheme is under discussion; The Hague wants to phase it out. Jean Schreurs thinks the 'solar park' project is "very promising" for several reasons. "Nobody can be against it. The guaranteed purchase of power is an important element." If all parties agree, such as Nijmegen municipality and housing corporations that will build the (social rented) houses, Schreurs wants to get started soon. In terms of legislation and regulations, however, some adjustments will have to be made.
NXP is an energy consumer, consuming as much per day as 60 per cent of all households in Nijmegen. Of course, NXP has an emergency power supply to cope with dips in the electricity grid. But NXP wants a facility so that the factory can still run for 12 hours in the event of a power failure. That time is needed to switch off production at the factory in a controlled manner.
The plan is special. "This set-up, in which the generation of several small parties is sold directly to one customer, is still rare at this point, as far as we know," responds a spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs. "This is, however, where EU legislation is going to focus more on (decentralised generation etc). The new (Dutch) Energy Act - which is not yet in force - also contains a number of articles on this."
The plan for the solar park is one of the proposals of the so-called Regio Deal submitted to the government. The money can be used this year to investigate whether the plan is feasible. Initiators of the Regio Deal are The Economic Board, the Green Metropolitan Region (which includes 18 municipalities) and the province of Gelderland, together with numerous parties in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region.
This article was written by Jacqueline van Ginneken and appeared in De Gelderlander on 10 February 2023. Reproduction of the article was done with the express permission of De Gelderlander.
