Renewable gases & alternative heating

Within NetVerder, we are developing, constructing and maintaining energy infrastructures for heat, steam and biogas. In 2023, NetVerder drew up a new heat strategy in anticipation of the enactment of the bill for the Collective Heat Supply Act (Wet Collectieve Warmtevoorziening, Wcw). Where heat infrastructure is concerned, we expect an increasing role for NetVerder in the coming years. In preparation for this development, work continued on building a professional organisation. NetVerder is already involved in several ambitious and concrete projects that are relatively new within Stedin Group, which means that we are learning by doing.

Borculo biogas grid

Since 2017, NetVerder has handled the distribution of biogas from Groot Zevert Vergisting in Beltrum to Friesland Campina in Borculo. As a result, Friesland Campina saves substantial volumes of natural gas at its production location. As the biogas grid is located outside Stedin’s primary service area, we are exploring options to transfer this grid. This will allow us to focus on our other projects.

Delft Open Heat Grid (OWD)

The Delft Open Heat Grid (Open Warmtenet Delft, OWD) is a good example of a heat grid being developed by NetVerder. An ‘open grid’ is an independently managed grid under non-commercial ownership. It enables multiple suppliers to supply heat to their customers. This is actually very similar to the current system of managing, maintaining and transmitting electricity and natural gas.

The OWD will initially be fed by heat from a new geothermal source on the campus of TU Delft. This is geothermal heat extracted from warm (salt) water in porous sand and rock layers at a depth of two to three kilometres. Geothermie Delft (GTD B.V.) started drilling this new geothermal well this summer.

The OWD will be situated in the Voorhof and Buitenhof districts. These districts contain several (high-rise) blocks of flats with collective heating systems. Other homes and buildings in the Buitenhof and Voorhof districts can also be connected to this grid. In total, this will involve a heating demand equivalent to that of no fewer than 15,000 homes. The municipality wants to ensure that eventually all homes and buildings in Delft can be connected to the heat grid. Therefore, the grid is being prepared for the future through the installation of somewhat larger pipelines. We expect to supply the first heat to residents in 2025.

Rotterdam Botlek Steam Network

Industry in the Rotterdam port area has a high demand for energy. Steam is one of the principal energy carriers there. Steam producers AVR and Cabot sustainably supply steam to the customer Lanxess. NetVerder safely and reliably transmits steam and condensate via the steam network in Rotterdam Botlek.
In 2023, steam producer AVR experienced a major fire. The repair work at AVR is still in full swing. This has caused a temporary halt in the operation of the steam network. The technical team is obviously taking good care of the steam pipeline, for instance by taking technical measures to keep it in good condition. We are also exploring options to reactivate part of the steam pipeline.
In 2023, 145,099 tonnes of steam were transmitted via the Rotterdam Botlek Steam Network (2022: 203,057 tonnes). This has also helped to reduce CO₂emissions. It is expected that the contracts with LyondellBasell, Huntsman and Air Liquide for expanding the steam network will be signed in the first quarter of 2024. This is facilitated in part by subsidies obtained from the province of South-Holland (€ 2 million) and the municipality of Rotterdam (€ 0.7 million).

Ouverture in Goes

The Ouverture district in Goes has its own renewable energy supply: a thermal energy storage (TES) system. This TES system has been managed by NetVerder since 2022. In 2023, 30 heat pumps were replaced in because they had reached the end of their useful lives. Due to increasing supplier delivery times, some residents had to wait a long time for the replacement of their heat pumps. There were also two larger general infrastructure disruptions in 2023. In both cases, the residents received financial compensation.