25 Nov 2020 — The activities to make De Meent (Alkmaar) more sustainable have started! As part of POCITYF project, 940 solar panels are being placed above the parking spaces on the south side of the ice rink. The solar park will also be equipped with a charging plaza with 16 charging points for cars and 20 for bicycles. Six other European participating cities are watching and learning from this sustainability action in Alkmaar.
Sustainability De Meent
The 940 solar panels have a yield of 300,000 KWh (kilowatt hours) per year. That is equal to the power consumption of 100 households. The sustainably generated energy provides the car and bicycle charging points and the complex with green electricity. Next year, a heat / cold storage facility will be installed next to the solar park to supply De Meent with sustainable heat and cold. The residual heat from the ice machines is used for this. In summer the same system is used to cool the sports complex.
Alkmaar is an example in a sustainable European project
POCITYF project has been funded by the European Union to make historic cities such as Alkmaar more sustainable. Together with the other Lighthouse city, Évora (Portugal), Alkmaar will implement various sustainable solutions, from which the other historic cities that are part of the project will be learning. The other participating cities are Bari (Italy), Celje (Slovenia), Granada (Spain), Hvidovre (Denmark), Ioannina (Greece) and Ujpest (Hungary). The project is one of the ways in which the municipality of Alkmaar is implementing the European climate objectives.
Energy Positive Spheres
Project POCITYF gets its name from “Energy Positive Areas”. This means: areas (or buildings) that produce more sustainable energy than they use themselves and give their surplus energy to surrounding buildings. For example, the heat / cold storage of De Meent can also be used to heat or cool surrounding buildings in the Olympiapark.
Sub-projects in Alkmaar
Alkmaar develops sustainable technologies in Westrand, Bloemwijk, De Hoef and Olympiapark. The solutions are divided into sub-projects. The sustainable techniques can be used at a later stage for the sustainable development of other areas in Alkmaar. The municipality of Alkmaar is working in the POCITYF project together with several partners, including the housing corporations Woonwaard and Van Alckmaer, HVC, Connexxion, Alliander, TNO, InHolland, Neroa, Firan, University of Groningen and New Energy Coalition.
“POCITYF is a great European project to participate in. It is fantastic to see that sustainability is being made in innovative ways. For example, by using the ground of the parking lot twice with solar panels and electric charging points.”
Alderman for Sustainability Christian Braak
“We are working hard in Alkmaar to make municipal real estate more sustainable. De Meent is an excellent example of this.”
Alderman for real estate Pieter Dijkman
Source: Alkmaar Municipality website
