A unique partnership has been set up in which four leading companies, including AkzoNobel, have made a long-term agreement to jointly source power from renewable energy projects for part of their operations in the Netherlands.

Formed two years ago together with DSM, Google and Philips, the consortium’s first agreement is to buy electricity from Windpark Krammer, which was established by two cooperatives together with 4,000 members in the province of Zeeland and the island of Goeree-Overflakkee.

The four companies have agreed to source a total of 350,000,000 kWh a year once Windpark Krammer becomes operational in 2019. This is equivalent to the total annual consumption of 100,000 Dutch households. It’s the first time that a group of multinational companies in the Netherlands has teamed up with local citizens to create what is effectively a consumer-to-business energy partnership.

“As a recognized leader in the field of sustainability, the consortium offers AkzoNobel a welcome opportunity to further increase its renewable energy use and continue finding new ways to do more with less” said Knut Schwalenburg, Director of AkzoNobel Nederland.

“We are proud to be part of the future of energy sourcing and this partnership shows that innovation does not stop at product development. It also means finding new ways of working together and illustrates our commitment to becoming more sustainable. In addition, by supporting communities to create more green energy, we are helping our cities to become cleaner and more liveable.”

Added Tijmen Keesmaat, Managing Director of Windpark Krammer: “This is a great achievement. When we started working on the concept eight years ago, we did not foresee that we would be able to provide sustainable power, not only to our members, but also to multinational companies.

“It is particularly great that we deliver directly to end users and that we cut out the middleman. This collaboration is energy transition on a completely new level and we are proud that we can play an important role in the new energy landscape.”

The consortium will enable the four companies involved to make a significant contribution to delivering on the Dutch renewable energy target of 14 percent by 2020, which was agreed in the Dutch Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth in 2013.