A unique partnership has been set up in the Netherlands in which four leading companies have made a longterm agreement to jointly source power from renewable energy projects. As part of this partnership, the first agreement is to buy power from a Windpark Krammer, established by two cooperatives with together 4000 members in the province of Zeeland and the island of Goeree-Overflakkee. With this initiative the companies significantly contribute to deliver on the Dutch renewable energy target of 14% in 2020 that was agreed in the Dutch Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth in 2013.
AkzoNobel, DSM, Google and Philips are announcing today a new partnership to jointly buy renewable electricity to power part of their operations in The Netherlands. Faced with demanding goals to meet sustainability targets, the four companies formed this consortium two years ago, to explore market opportunities together. This represents a new approach for corporations to enter into renewable Power Purchase Agreements. As a first step in their long-term collaboration, AkzoNobel, DSM, Google and Philips have agreed to source a total of 350,000,000 kWh a year from Windpark Krammer once it becomes operational in 2019. This is equivalent to the total annual consumption of 100,000 households. The agreement is both crucial for the funding of the windpark and for the sustainable ambitions of all four companies. It’s the first time in the Netherlands that a group of multinational companies has teamed up with local citizens to create what is effectively a consumer-to-business energy partnership.
Added Tijmen Keesmaat, Managing Director of Windpark Krammer: “This is a great achievement. When we started working on the concept eight years ago, we did not foresee that we would be able to provide sustainable power not only to our members, but also to multinational companies. It is particularly great that we deliver directly to end users and that we cut out the middleman. This collaboration is energy transition on a complete new level and we are proud that we can play an important role in the new energy landscape".