Self-supply+ (plus) has been possible since 2024, currently only to businesses and local authorities, but from 2026 it will also be available to private individuals. Until now, Zon op Alphen has been selling the sustainably generated energy to two energy companies. This energy is generated by the more than 2,200 solar panels that Zon op Alphen has installed on the roof of Rijnvicus on Distributieweg and on the roof of the driving range from Zeegersloot Golf Club.

The construction of these solar roofs in 2019 was an initiative of the Energiek Alphen aan den Rijn energy cooperative, for which certificates were sold to around 150 participants (mainly residents but also a few companies from the municipality). They are the joint owners of the installations. This generates around 560,000 kWh of sustainable energy annually, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 225 households.

Self-delivery+

From 1 July, part of the energy generated by Zon op Alphen will also be supplied via the self-supply contract.toenergy to Ponsioen Installation Technology. “We started discussing this about a year ago,” says Stef Strik, chair of Zon op Alphen. “The advantage of Self-supply+ is that you are in control of your own local, sustainable electricity and you agree on the sales price with the customer yourself. Zon op Alphen|to now receives a slightly higher price per kilowatt hour, and Ponsioen pays less than if they purchased their energy from an energy company. So it's a win-win situation for both parties.”

With Self-Supply+, the company gains a direct link to the generation location in the region. Among other things, this results in lower transport costs and contributes to reducing grid congestion (an overloaded national power grid). The more electricity you share with each other, the more cost-effective it usually is. When supplying and purchasing electricity, so-called simultaneity plays an important role: generation and consumption must take place simultaneously.

Local energy community

Strik: “In our collaboration, we have agreed that 22 per cent of the electricity we generate with Rijnvicus-West will be supplied directly to Ponsioen. This covers 54 per cent of Ponsioen's electricity needs. We would also like to offer the remaining energy we generate to the market via Zelflevering+. We are already in talks with the board of Zeegersloot Golf Club about this, and wouldn't it be great if the municipality also started buying its electricity from us as a local energy community? Of course, we are also happy to explain the benefits of Zelflevering+ to other entrepreneurs in Alphen. We see this as an important step towards a local energy community.”

Rob de Kloet, director and owner of Ponsioen Installatie Techniek: “We distinguish ourselves by realising sustainable installations in and around Alphen aan den Rijn, the Green Heart. In our efforts to further implement the Ponsioen company mottos of local and sustainable, we contacted Zon op Alphen over a year ago. With this ‘local for local’ self-supply contract, we can run more than half of our own business operations on the basis of sustainable, locally generated energy.”

to|new energy

The collaboration process between Zon op Alphen and Ponsioen Installatie Techniek is facilitated by the cooperative energy supplier. to|new energy. This national energy supplier monitors and analyses the generation and consumption of the parties, as a basis for the agreements on the contract and the energy price that the parties make with each other. The contract of Zon op Alphen|to with Ponsioen Installation Technology is valid until 1 January 2027.