Vattenfall to work for Amsterdam heat

Vattenfall is starting a project to further optimize and connect Amsterdam's heat networks. This is an important step in making the heat networks more sustainable and future-proof. With this, the organization wants to accelerate the transition from natural gas-free city through district heating. This project is part of a preliminary joint investment agenda (Vattenfall and AEB Amsterdam are working together in Westpoort Warmte) of 400 million euros for district heat in Amsterdam until 2022. 

Amsterdam residents now receive their district heat from two different sources. The heat of Amsterdam South East comes from the Diemen power plant and the heat in North West from the power plant) of AEB Amsterdam. The Nieuw West and Zuideramstel areas will be connected by a 3.8-kilometer pipeline. Growth of some 20,000 homes in total is foreseen for both areas until 2025. And that also means more demand for district heat.

Heat buffer and auxiliary heat plant
Not only will the grids be linked together, there will also be a heat buffer along the A10 motorway in the bend near the A4 motorway that can store 3,600 cubic meters of hot water. This is a smaller version of the heat buffer that Vattenfall has had at the Diemen power plant for several years. This allows more heat from AEB Amsterdam to be fed into the existing grid in South East Amsterdam. Finally, an auxiliary heat plant (HWC) will be built at the same location for the very coldest days of the year and for even more reliable district heating.

Growing demand
"Amsterdam is increasingly preparing for life without natural gas," says Alexander van Ofwegen heat director Vattenfall. "With that, the demand for heat is also increasing. This applies not only to new buildings, by the way; we are also seeing increasing demand from existing buildings to be connected to the heat grid. This is something we would like to be able to meet."

It is important to respond well to the growth of housing in the city. The interconnection creates a more robust and reliable system that will ensure security of supply for the future.

Fossil-free
"Vattenfall wants to make it possible to live fossil-free within one generation. For heat, this means that we want to make this product fossil-free in order to achieve completely CO2-free heat supply in 2040. By connecting these pipes together, it is also possible to be able to bring more heat to homes from a source like AEB Amsterdam. Vattenfall Warmte is already actively developing and using different sustainable sources on its heat grid. By connecting the grids together, we can also add more sustainable sources and make them available to the whole city," Van Ofwegen said.

Vattenfall has chosen the companies ENGIE Services West B.V. (responsible for the construction of the auxiliary heat plant and the buffer) and Denys Engineers & Contractors B.V., contractor for the laying of the heat pipeline, to carry out the work. Construction of the pipeline will begin in March 2019 and construction of the auxiliary heat plant and buffer will begin in July 2019.

About Vattenfall
Vattenfall is a leading European energy company, which for more than 100 years has been electrifying industry, delivering energy to people's homes and modernizing everyday life through innovation and collaboration. Vattenfall wants to make it possible to live fossil-free within one generation. That is why the company is driving the transition to a more sustainable energy system with growing renewable generation and smart energy solutions for customers. Vattenfall has about 20,000 employees and operates mainly in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Finland and France. Vattenfall is a Swedish state-owned company.