Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) (
www.ns.nl) — the principal passenger rail operator of the Netherlands — is aiming to run 100% of its trains without CO2 emissions by 2018.
To achieve carbon neutrality, NS has awarded the Dutch electricity supplier Eneco a contract to supply 1.4TWhr per year of wind power.
For 2016, the railway co-operative VIVENS, which is headed by NS, has proposed that 50% of its passenger trains will run on ‘green’ electricity.
The electricity contract, which was sold by tender to Eneco, includes power for all electric train traffic from 2015 to the year 2025. Half of the electricity will be supplied by new wind farms in the Netherlands, with the remainder coming from wind parks in Belgium and Scandinavia.
Furthermore, the rail operators expect to progressively increase the efficiency of their trains and their services so as to save increasing amounts of electricity year on year. Compared to 2005, the electricity consumption of NS’s trains per passenger kilometre has been cut by 30%.
NS chairman and CEO, Timo Huges, said: “This contract is a perfect example of how organisations in the rail sector work closely together. According to a customer survey, eight out of 10 passengers consider it important for rail companies to switch over to green power. From 2018, our 1.2 million passengers will be able to travel on zero-emission transport.”
Eneco has a renewable-energy business unit, which has already been awarded land rights for the planned Navitus Bay Wind Park off the UK coast.
Jeroen de Haas, chairman of Eneco’s board of management, says: “Eneco invests substantially in sustainable power generation, which includes the construction of new wind farms. This partnership signifies that going green is a serious option for complete business sectors. The partnership between Eneco and the rail sector is one of the largest ‘green’ energy contracts in the Netherlands to date.”