Residual heat

Turning residual heat into district heating

Residual heat is captured in places where a lot of it is created, such as in electricity production and waste incineration. Nuon uses this residual heat for district heating: we heat the water, which is conveyed to homes and businesses via a network of underground pipes. 

The advantages of district heating are: 

• It flows directly to the radiators, which ensure comfortable heat. 
• It provides hot tap water. 
• You no longer need a central heating boiler.
• It is safe: you no longer need a gas pipe, so there is no more risk of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Residual heat is used instead of fossil fuels and that reduces the emission of CO2 by an average of 50%. 

Contribution to a better climate

The emission of CO2 is the main cause of the greenhouse effect. CO2 is released when fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas are combusted. The residual heat that is now used instead of fossil fuels ensures that an annual saving of more than 100 million m3 of natural gas is made and that CO2 emissions are reduced by the equivalent of the exhaust emissions of 50,000 cars!

Sun and residual heat reduce CO2 emissions in Almere by 50%

Solar energy is especially environmentally friendly and also provides heat. To take advantage of this Nuon has started to build a solar island in Almere, the first in the Netherlands. The solar island will supply 10% of the total heat consumption (enough for a million showers a year) for 2,700 homes. The other 90% is residual heat from the neighbouring power plant. Thanks to this project the CO2 emissions will be reduced by 50%.