aerobd.news : Dutch airport operator Royal Schiphol Group has announced that all of its airports will run on sustainable power generated in the Netherlands from the start of next year. A large portion of this energy will be generated by a newly built wind farm in Vianen, which is set for completion in January 2018. This will be complemented by other national sources of sustainable energy until further wind farms are built. From January 2020, the airport plans to only use power generated by wind farms.

In the meantime, utilities company Eneco will provide enough sustainable electricity to power Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Eindhoven Airport and Lelystad Airport. Together, the airports consume around 200GWh, which is the rough equivalent of 60,000 households.

Jos Nijhuis, president and CEO of Royal Schiphol Group, said, “For our new energy contract, we wanted nothing but sustainable power generated in the Netherlands. After all, aviation must be made more sustainable. We feel that the most important elements of this collaboration with Eneco are that all the Schiphol Group airports are involved and that additional sustainable energy sources will be developed in the Netherlands. This will allow our airports to increase their sustainability and offer economic benefits.”

Jeroen de Haas, CEO of Eneco Group, said, “For the energy transition, it is crucial for the business sector – which is by far the largest energy consumer – to embrace sustainability. Pioneers such as Royal Schiphol Group are consciously choosing new, sustainable forms of production and are therefore setting the tone for others. As a result, they are also helping Eneco Group to invest in wind farms and other sustainable energy sources.”