Leuven Bootcamp Brings WaterWarmth and AquaCom Partners Closer to Pilot Implementation
All partners in the WaterWarmth project work towards a big feasibility study of all technical, economic and governance aspects of collective aquathermal energy systems. People from Extraqt explained the key components of such a feasibility study by showing their recent research and results from a study of the Buda Island project development in the city of Kortrijk, Belgium. All other large scale developments can learn from this feasibility study and apply lessons learned to their own feasibility studies.
In the afternoon WaterWarmth pilot partners from both the small scale and the large scale pilots - and pilot sites from the AquaCom project played Crack the Process. This is a game to get an insight on which steps and hurdles to take towards the implementation of a pilot site. What followed was a good discussion between partners on which hurdles there are in the process of implementation of the pilots - as well as knowledge exchange about how to overcome problems you encounter along the way.
After a short break we continue the last part of the day by exploring the differences and similarities between the pilots based on: technique, organisation, progress and challenges.
We also discussed data management plans for all pilot sites: by providing data-driven insights in the WaterWarmth pilots we advance knowledge about aquathermal energy systems and how they work in practice. Not only for researchers, but also for house-owners and tenants this can be valuable - it can show how effective and cheap aquathermal energy can as a source for heating homes.
Partners from both projects look back at a great day - with lots of discussion, sharing and learning. And they have inspiration about how to advance their project development.
The next meeting for WaterWarmth is planned in November ’24 and for AquaCom this will be the beginning of October ’24.