Energy supply

The public transport can use energy much more efficiently than the current fleet of 7 million (electric or fossile fuel) cars can do. Still mobility requires a lot of energy. The vision wants as much as possible renewable energy supplied to the vehicles and stations via a smart grid. Each corridor will have its own energy supply to limit the effects of grid failures.

The smart grid also serves to feed the regenerated energy from braking electric trains back into the grid. That energy can be used by surrounding consumers.

All the required energy can not be supplied solely from Dutch renewable sources alone, even if all the roofs in the country would be fitted with solar panels.

In practice, the renewable energy will mainly be foreign solar (“desert energy”), supplemented by Dutch generated renewables such as solar, wind and tidal power. The solar power from the Desertec initiative has the advantage that it is supplied by solar power plants which also work when the sun is not shining. Such plants are located in areas with abundant sun shine, such as the desert and Spain. Incidentally, Desertec not only connects solar power plants, but also our wind farms to the same network. So we will not be depending on only one party.

In order not to become overly dependent on one source, we propose to retain the existing gas and some coal plants for spare or stand-by use. In case of conflicts, blockades or sanctions this helps us limit the damage.