Eneco is the most sustainable electricity provider among the large energy companies
On 20 November, Wise, environmental organisation Natuur & Milieu and the Dutch Consumers’ Association published their annual report on the sustainability of Dutch electricity suppliers. Eneco’s score on the consumer market ranking was 8.1. This makes Eneco the most sustainable electricity provider of the large energy companies.
‘The remarkable news is that, for the first time in the history of this study, the score of one of the three largest energy suppliers, Eneco, is higher than 8’ is one of the statements in the report.
With its score of 8.1, Eneco improved its position on the consumer market ranking. To all our customers in this market, we supply sustainably generated electricity from local sources. In order to further increase the capacity of sustainable energy, Eneco continues to invest in the development new wind and solar farms.Moreover, in the report, the NGOs argue that the quantity of green electricity actually purchased should be considered, rather than the quantity of green electricity supplied on the basis of Guarantees of Origin. If this were to be calculated, Eneco would score even higher on the ranking.
On the business market, Eneco’s score is 4.3. An important reason for this is that we see that these customers often still opt for grey electricity. This is why Eneco is committed to supporting the business segment in making energy consumption more sustainable. This is taking place in stages, partly due to the fact that the volume of electricity supplied to the business market is large and the amount of green electricity that is currently being produced is not enough to switch entirely to a green alternative as yet. Eneco expects this to change quickly in the coming years, as we are rapidly expanding our sustainable production of offshore and onshore wind power and solar power. Some of our business customers have already fully switched to sustainable power. Customers to which we supply green electricity include RET, Schiphol, NS, Bol.com, Post NL and Qurios.
Sustainability ranking
Eneco supports the annual publication of the ranking of electricity suppliers by NGOs, as this contributes to transparency and stimulates suppliers to increase their investment in sustainability. However, the underlying methodology that is used for the ranking allocates relatively little weight to investments in sustainable production capacity, which is clearly reflected in our business market ranking. For example, suppliers can attain the maximum score and head the ranking without having invested a single euro in solar panels or wind turbines. This does not do justice to suppliers who invest in renewable capacity on a large scale, but at the same time still have to maintain a gas-fired power plant to ensure that there is back-up when there is no wind or sun.
Eneco calls on the NGOs to improve the methodology in this area so that the ranking will provide even better insight in the coming years into which suppliers contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition.