Last autumn, things already looked rosy for the SpaarGas Ramplaankwartier district initiative, with which residents want to set up their own solar heating network in order to get rid of gas. But with another 4 million subsidy from the government, which Minister Hugo de Jonge has promised today, all the lights are now green and the district can get to work together with the municipality of Haarlem.
Eelco Fortuijn, resident of the Ramplaankwartier and also initiator of SpaarGas, is very happy with the subsidy. “With this we can realize a long-cherished dream. We started a few years ago with a group of residents from the conviction that it is possible to heat our homes cheaply and sustainably,” he says in a first reaction.
“Since then, support in the neighborhood has grown and more than a quarter of households have already indicated that they want to participate. And with the development of the gas price and increasing climate problems, the urgency is only increasing. Why should we continue to burn natural gas if we can generate our own heat and electricity in the neighborhood at the same or perhaps lower cost?”
Heat network
Fortuijn, together with a number of other local residents, spent four years with their own WijkEnergie Bedrijf to get the project off the ground. The intention is that in the summer heat will be stored together via special solar boilers, which can be used in the winter to heat the houses.
In October 2021, the city council of Haarlem already agreed to guarantee the financing of 7 million euros, bringing the project one step closer.
NH Nieuws/Haarlem105 then made a report about it, watch it below
For the municipality of Haarlem, it is the largest sustainability subsidy the city has received to date and an important step in the ambition to have the city of Haarlem be natural gas-free by 2040.