Oct 20, 2009 | Amsterdam Nuon connects 100,000th customer to district heating
Today Nuon connected its 100,000th customer to district heating. This was in a new apartment complex of housing corporation Rochdale in Amsterdam Zuidoost. Achieving the 100,000th connection is an important milestone in Nuon’s ambition to use residual heat from industry to heat large residential districts and industrial parks.
Nuon frequently uses power plants and waste incineration plants as a heat source for district heating projects. The heat released by electricity production and waste incineration is known as residual heat. By utilising this heat as central heating, homes do not need a central heating boiler or to use gas for heating. Homes with district heating therefore emit 50% less CO2.
190 million kilos of CO2 reduction
Last year Nuon reduced its CO2 emissions by 190 million kilos through the use of district heating. This is equivalent to saving more than 105 million m3 of gas and reducing CO2 emissions by the annual exhaust emissions of around 60.000 passenger vehicles. Most of the connections are in new housing districts in Amsterdam, Almere, Leiden, Lelystad and the Arnhem area. More and more existing homes are being connected to district heating as well.
In Amsterdam 20,000 homes and almost 300 companies with a substantial consumption are now connected to district heating. In this way, the CO2 reduction in Amsterdam last year amounted to 65 million kilos of CO2, comparable to the exhaust emissions of 20,000 passenger vehicles.
Amsterdam Zuidoost
In Amsterdam Zuidoost Nuon is connecting all the newly built homes to district heating on behalf of the housing corporation Rochdale and the Amsterdam Zuidoost district council. In this urban district 8,000 homes and 100 large business customers have been connected to the residual heat from the power plant in Diemen. Together these connections are responsible for an annual CO2 reduction of 25 million kilos of CO2. Future expansions can push CO2 reductions up to 40 million kilos in Amsterdam Zuidoost.
The air quality in the Zuidoost district meets the required standards. The district council wants to keep it that way and improve it wherever possible. This is why the Zuidoost district council supports new building projects that are connected to district heating.