NEIGHBORHOOD ENERGY APPROACH AS A SCALABLE ALTERNATIVE FOR GAS HEATING
Kick the habit: In the past 50 years, the Netherlands has allowed itself tobecome addicted to its own supply of natural gas. It will need to kick this habit and find alternatives to heat homes in the future.
The ‘neighborhood energy approach’ aims to address three major issues: Upgrade local environmental thermal energy Connect existing housing at a reasonable cost
By Roelof Potters – Innovation Manager Alliander, Arnhem, The Netherlands Hans Korsman – Principal Consultant, Qirion (an Alliander subsidiary), Duiven, The Netherlands
Offer freedom of choice of primary energy supplier
Current situation The Groningen Gas Field was discovered in 1959 in the north of the Netherlands. It has since been a dominant factor in Dutch energy policy. In less than a decade, an extensive network was built to make natural gas available almost everywhere, at af- fordable prices, facilitating a swift transition from coal and oil. Now, the field is becoming depleted, diminishing pressures is causing local earthquakes, and the supply of natural gas is switched to mostly foreign sources. Around 2000, the Dutch electricity and natural gas markets were liberalized, introducing competition between energy sup- pliers, and giving consumers freedom of choice. However, this freedom of choice was not extended to district heating (DH). A transition towards renewable sources The Netherlands has been lagging somewhat in adopting re- newable energy sources. Offshore wind may stage a comeback since 57,000 km2 of the European Continental Shelf in the
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