Royal Schiphol Group – the owner-operator of numerous major international airports in the Netherlands – has announced that from 1st January 2018, all of its business units will run on sustainable power generated by wind resources in the country.

 

To this end, the Group has entered into an agreement with Eneco – one of the largest electricity producers in the Netherlands. In the years ahead, all of the sustainable power consumed by Schiphol will be generated by Eneco's new Dutch wind farms.

 

Eneco will supply Schiphol (Amsterdam), Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Eindhoven Airport and Lelystad Airport with sustainable power. Together, those airports consume around 200GWh – comparable with the consumption of 60,000 households.

 

Green and economic gains

 

Jos Nijhuis, President and CEO of Royal Schiphol Group, remarked that for its new energy contract, the business wanted nothing but sustainable power generated in the Netherlands. “After all, one thing is certain: aviation can and must be made more sustainable,” he stressed. “We feel that the most important elements of this collaboration with Eneco are that all the Schiphol Group airports are involved and that additional sustainable energy sources will be developed in the Netherlands. This will allow our airports to increase their sustainability and offer economic benefits.”

 

Businesses must “embrace sustainability”

 

Also commenting on the agreement, Jeroen de Haas, CEO of Eneco Group, noted that: “For the energy transition, it is crucial for the business sector – which is by far the largest energy consumer – to embrace sustainability. Pioneers such as Royal Schiphol Group are consciously choosing new, sustainable forms of production and are therefore setting the tone for others. As a result, they are also helping Eneco Group to invest in wind farms and other sustainable energy sources.”

 

New wind farms

 

The first new wind farm that will generate power for Royal Schiphol Group is Vianen, which will be operational from January 2018. More wind farms will follow, and from 1st January 2020 all of the power will come from newly built farms. Until the new wind farms have been constructed, the power will come from existing sustainable energy sources in the Netherlands. The decision to use new wind farms means that Schiphol will not be drawing power from the existing sustainable energy network. It will also increase the range of sustainable power options in the Netherlands.