Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA has detailed plans to stage an Eredivisie match run entirely on sustainable energy.
During the match between Ajax and Heerenveen on August 11, the stadium is set to operate solely via two ‘super batteries’, which will be powered by the venue’s 4,200 solar panels. Every aspect of the stadium is set to run on green energy, including the elevators, lights, beer taps and the players’ tunnel.
Johan Cruijff ArenA said the project has been co-funded by the European Union and the European Regional Development Fund, with support from Groendus, an energy transition platform based in the Netherlands.
The two super batteries will be able to store 8.6 megawatt hours, which is enough to charge 1.7 million phones or supply around 20,000 households with electricity for an hour. The batteries are further supplemented with green energy from a local wind turbine and solar park, which will be purchased via the Groendus energy marketplace.
Johan Cruijff ArenA has been fitted with a super battery, consisting of second-hand batteries from electric vehicles, since 2018. A second battery has now been fitted, which will make next month’s project possible.
It is the latest green-focused initiative announced by the stadium, which last year launched a new international sustainability standard for events and event locations.
Johan Cruijff ArenA teamed up with Rotterdam-based GSES (Global Sustainable Enterprise System), which offers a software as a service (SaaS) platform, in the venture. The Global Sustainable Venue Benchmark (GSVB) intends to be a measurement and verification process that tracks the sustainability of organisations, events and suppliers.
In other news, Johan Cruijff ArenA has today (Thursday) announced that self-order screens will be available for guests to use in various areas of the stadium.
The stadium began the phased installation of the technology at the start of the year. Fans will be able to tap self-order screens to buy beer and hot snacks.
