Vattenfall pauses the development of a bioheat plant in Diemen and will enter into discussions with the municipalities involved, the province of North Holland and outgoing Minister Jetten of Climate and Energy to jointly explore the possibilities of alternative sustainable heat sources and their timely development. The affordability of these alternative district heating sources for the 84.000 customers will be the most important starting point for Vattenfall, together with sustainability and reliability.
Vattenfall has developed the bioheat plant because it is the most affordable form of sustainable heat and the only source that can produce heat on a large scale and reliably in the short term. The recent ruling of the Council of State has delayed the development of this source. As a result, the situation may now arise in which alternative sustainable heat sources can ultimately be developed just as quickly. It is therefore now logical to investigate a possible acceleration of alternative district heat sources with the authorities involved.
Accelerate and scale up plans
Vattenfall's preparations for the development of these other sustainable heat sources - such as geothermal energy, residual heat from hydrogen production and data centers, aquathermal energy and gas-fired power stations converted to hydrogen - were already running parallel to the development of the bioheat plant. These were intended to eventually take over the heat supply from this plant. Now that the bioheat plant has been delayed, Vattenfall will work with the municipalities of Amsterdam, Diemen and Almere, the province of North Holland and the Dutch government to see to what extent the plans for alternative sources can be accelerated and further scaled up. There must be sufficient support from governments in the coming years for the realization of these alternative heat sources: major investment decisions for multi-year projects can only be made if there is a clear policy and structural support for this and if parties work together.
Source: Vattenfall
