News 01 September 2016 News from SKAO
Market consultation on purchasing green power for Dutch government
In the next few years the national government wants to buy 70 percent of its green power including certificates (guarantees of origin). The power has to come from wind or solar energy from a number of European countries. The government will buy the remaining 30% from Dutch windparks and solar projects.
The government consumes about 1,000 gigawatt hours of electricity per year.Since this year the government no longer uses certificates from Scandinavian hydroelectric plants.
The national government will organise a market consultation to prepare the tender for the purchase of green power. That contract concerns the purchase of power from 2018 until 2021. The consultation will show whether the market can supply the required amount of green electricity and that the additional cost of the type requested certificates. The market consultation will take place in September, the contract is expected to start in November.
In the longer term the government will only buy electricity that is sustainably generated in The Netherlands itself. For the next four years this is not yet practicable. The years 2018-2021 are therefore a transition period.By purchasing 30 percent green power with Dutch certificates, the government also contributes to the generation of sustainable energy in The Netherlands.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment wants to grow into a climate-neutral organization. One of the steps they take for this is the certification of the CO2 performance ladder.