Dutch young plant grower, Gootjes AllPlant BV has been connected to the heating grid of waste and energy company HVC on Wednesday 6 November 2019. This makes it the third greenhouse horticulture company in Alton which is heated completely sustainably. NH Paprika was the fist to be connected at the beginning of this year.
Director Simon Gootjes: "In 2015, when we took the decision to move to Alton, area coordinator Dave Vlaming of Ontwikkelingsbedrijf NHN assured us that this would be a future proof are with a sustainable energy supply. This promise has been delivered and we are proud that HVC will supply sustainable heat to us in the coming years."
The quantity heat supplied by the HVC is comparable to the annual usage of around 300 households.
Higher requirements
AllPlant has been nursing and selling young garden plants from tissue culture since 1997. The company supplies more than 500 different kinds of young plants to growers in almost all European countries, of which 90% to West-European countries. Until 2016, the company worked on two locations: an office building in Schagen and a rented greenhouse in Andijk. "We were looking for a new spot right in between these two locations. It had to be a future proof place with a sustainable energy supply."
"Our clients have increasing requirement of our products, of which the CO2-footprint of our plants is a part. With the connection to the heating grid of HVC, our entire gas usage is sustainable. This gives us an edge to the competition who are using fossil fuels. We only keep the gas connection and boiler as back-up for extreme cold periods."
9 million kilo of CO2 emissions prevented
Arjan ten Elshof, HVC director, is happy with the heat supply to Gootjes AllPlant. "In 2018, we have invested heavily in extending the heating grid to the horticulture area Alton, with the expectation many companies will connect in the coming years and contribute substantially to making the Heerhugowaard municipality sustainable. By connecting the two branches of NH Paprika and Gootjes AllPlant, 5 million m3 gas is annually saved, and around 9 million kilo of CO2-emissions have been prevented."
Monique Stam, alderman of the Heerhugowaard municipality, congratulates Gootjes AllPlant and HVC with the sustainable heat supply. "The connection of greenhouse horticulture companies to the heating grid helps us achieving the ambition to be a completely energy-neutral municipality in 2030. The municipality will make an effort to connect around 2,500 residences to the heating grid in the coming 10 years. Together, we will make things sustainable."
Support by Ontwikkelingsbedrijf NHN
Simon Gootjes from Gootjes Allplant is happy with the support he has received from area coordinator Dave Vlaming from Ontwikkelingsbedrijf NHN. Simon Gootjes: "Ontwikkelingsbedrijf NHN has used a calculation model to make clear how our current energy costs are structured and what our future energy costs will be with the connection to the heating grid. Based on this, we could decide whether heat supply was interesting to us. We also had to invest heavily in adjusting our heating system. Taken all together, we now receive sustainable heat at the same cost as using gas."