Municipalities join geothermal efforts in Noord Holland, NL

Geothermal scan by EBN in Noord Holland (source: PolderWarmte)

The municipalities of Almere, Amstelveen and Diemen are joining the partnership Acceleration Aardwarmte MRA in the Netherlands. This partnership puts geothermal energy on the map in the region from Zandvoort to Almere in the region of Noord Holland. The companies Yeager Energy, IPS Geothermal Energy and Polderwarmte are also joining the association. Since November last year, various public and private parties have been working together to use natural heat from the ground to heat homes, greenhouses and other buildings, as reported by PolderWarmte. We previously reported on efforts on geothermal development in the region.

Edward Stigter, chairman of the steering group for the Acceleration of Geothermal Heat MRA and the Deputy for Climate and Energy of the Province of Noord-Holland: “For heating homes, the use of geothermal energy is a wonderful alternative to natural gas. It is good to see that more and more municipalities see opportunities to heat sustainably with this. Government and business desperately need each other for this. I think it is great to see that new parties want to join. In this way we are getting closer to realizing our goals. ”

Heating houses and greenhouses

As a sustainable energy source, geothermal energy is an alternative to fossil fuels. Geothermal energy is also a reliable energy source. It does not depend on weather, wind or the season. It has been used for years in large cities such as Paris and Munich. To make the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA) free from natural gas, plans have been made to heat almost a quarter of the buildings in the area with geothermal energy by 2040. Geothermal energy is also an important option for sustainability in horticulture, such as around Aalsmeer.

Research

To date, geothermal energy has been used to a limited extent in the region around Amsterdam, because it is unclear whether the subsoil is suitable for the extraction of geothermal energy. To map this out, EBN is currently carrying out seismic surveys on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and both provinces. In addition, it is also looking at how the environment can best be involved in geothermal energy projects. The collaboration between these public and private parties aims to accelerate this research and the actual extraction of geothermal energy.

From November 2020, the partnership already consisted of the provinces of Noord-Holland and Flevoland, the municipalities of Amsterdam and Haarlem, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), Vattenfall, Eneco, ENGIE, HVC, Shell and Eavor.

The Acceleration of Geothermal MRA project aims to accelerate the use of geothermal energy as a sustainable heat source. Read more on warmthiscool.nl.

Source: PolderWarmte