Dutch airports to go green with new wind farm deal

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Posted: 16 August 2017 | International Airport Review |

From 1 January 2018, all the business units of Royal Schiphol Group will run on sustainable power generated in the Netherlands.

The Dutch company has struck a deal with Eneco, a Rotterdam-based energy provider, for 200GWh of green energy every year for 15 years.

Though all the wind farms will not be operational for two years from 2018, the group will shift to existing sustainable sources available in the Netherlands starting next year.

This means that Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Eindhoven Airport and Lelystad Airport will all run on power sourced from Dutch wind farms by 2020.

The first new wind farm that will generate power for Royal Schiphol Group is Vianen, which will be up and running from January.

Aviation can and must be made more sustainable

Jos Nijhuis, President and CEO of Royal Schiphol Group, said: “For our new energy contract, we wanted nothing but sustainable power generated in the Netherlands. After all, one thing is certain: aviation can and must be made more sustainable. 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.”

Jeroen de Haas, CEO of Eneco Group: “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.”