Sustainable heat supply for 8000 houses on Strandeiland, IJburg
On 1 September, the municipality of Amsterdam and Eneco signed an agreement for the construction of one of the largest sustainable heating and cooling projects for new homes in the Netherlands. The system will be built on Amsterdam's Strandeiland. The development of this newest island in the IJburg district involves creating an energy-neutral residential environment in which this sustainable heating and cooling system will be an important element.
The homes and facilities that will be built on Strandeiland will be connected to a local heating and cooling system. For this purpose, Eneco will extract heat from the surface water of the IJmeer, after which it will be upgraded to heat suitable for the heat network or stored in underground wells. This will mean that future residents and users will be able to rely on a sustainable system for comfortable temperature control of the building.
Sustainability and customer satisfaction, for both the project developer and future residents, are important criteria in the development of the heat network. Eneco met these criteria, resulting in an agreement to supply heat and cooling to residents and commercial and community facilities for 30 years. Work will start in 2023, so that the first residents of Strandeiland will be able to use the new heating and cooling system in 2025, as soon as they move in.
Investing in a sustainable city
The construction of the heating and cooling system on Strandeiland will make a significant contribution to Amsterdam's ambition to become a natural gas-free city by 2040. In Amsterdam, several similar heat facilities are already in use, for example on the adjacent Centrumeiland and supplying the offices in the Zuidas district. The thermal energy storage facility on Strandeiland will soon be one of the largest sustainable heat systems in the Netherlands for 8,000 houses, about 40% of which will be social housing, and 120,000 m2 of facilities such as schools, shops and restaurants.
Strandeiland; a sustainable city district
Thanks to its location on IJburg Bay, the long city beach and the relationship with the water, Strandeiland will be a relaxed living environment, unique in Amsterdam. Sustainability will be extremely important there. The houses are being built with sustainable materials in a nature-inclusive way with built-in nesting boxes for birds and green roofs, for example. Solar panels on the houses will generate as much energy as the residents need. The ambition is even to make Strandeiland energy-positive; to make it produce more energy than it consumes.