How do you make as many homes as possible in a municipality more sustainable? In De Wolden, the citizens’ initiative Heel De Wolden Groen thinks it has the answer: by taking care of all the arrangements and purchasing together, so that it can be done more cheaply. Less motivated people or people with a smaller wallet should also join.
“Achieving maximum results with limited costs”, chairman Klaas Blanksma summarizes the initiative. This means that households in De Wolden invest a maximum of 10,000 euros. “That should pay for itself in ten years.” The focus is on closing gaps, and equipping the insulation of homes and homes with heat pumps and solar panels.
simpler
As an energy coach, Blanksma saw how inefficient various sustainability schemes are. That must be different, he thought. Simpler too, and affordable. He has now been working with like-minded people for a year and a half to set up Heel De Wolden Groen (HDWG). An example is the successful citizens’ initiative Fiberglass De Wolden, which gave all residents the opportunity to connect to fiber optic.
The aim of the cooperative is to make 4,000 homes more sustainable within eight years, in total there are more than 10,000 in De Wolden. “Many grants are applied for by people who are already motivated to become more sustainable. We want to reach people who are not motivated,” says Blanksma. “And we think it’s important that people who don’t have the money for it can also participate.”
For example, people who are currently unable to buy a heat pump can do so through hire purchase through a so-called Energy Service Company (ESCo). “We offer the option of concluding a long-term energy contract. The monthly installment amount is then no higher than the current energy bill,” explains Blanksma. After about eight years, the system is paid off.
According to Blanksma, all target groups should become enthusiastic about sustainability because of the cost advantages that the citizens’ initiative has. By purchasing heat pumps and solar panels on a large scale, costs must be reduced. The return on investment is therefore faster. “The other aspect is unburdening,” says Blanksma. Because HDWG arranges everything related to purchasing and installation. “We want to use installers from our own municipality as much as possible.”
High gas prices
The aim is to reduce gas consumption in De Wolden by at least fifty percent. Due to the high gas prices, many Dutch people are already looking for ways to save gas. Blanksma: “The need is great, but if people want to become more sustainable now, they should do it now.”
Because those who join the multi-year initiative may have to wait. The first homes should start using the services in 2023. “We can’t help too many people at once, we want to start with dozens and then increase it over the next few years,” says Blanksma. “We have to consult with the network manager about what can be done where. In some places it is just so full that people cannot return the electricity they generate. We will therefore also work in a distributed manner, and not in one place á la Fiberglass De Wolden. put everything together and then to the next village.”
Inhabitants
In the coming period, Blanksma and the other board members and volunteers will visit the village houses to make residents enthusiastic about the plans. The province of Drenthe is already that, judging by the almost 120,000 euros that was given to the Cooperative for setting up the organization and the ESCo. “If the pilot is successful, this financing construction can be applied on a larger scale,” it sounds hopeful from the provincial government.
The municipality is now also at the table. De Wolden has the ambition to make all gas green. In order to achieve this, gas consumption must also be reduced. “And Enexis only adjusts the grid capacity on behalf of the municipality,” says Blanksma. According to him, involving the municipality was still a matter of time. “Making sustainability is always a task for home owners themselves, it is new for the municipality that they are given a role in this themselves. I was also surprised to have to attract the municipality in this way. But now there is good coordination. “