“Energy flowing, cities growing,” that’s the motto Alliander lives by. Alliander ensures that the lights stay on and the energy flows smoothly to homes and businesses. Today, we explore the role of Alliander. It is a crucial energy network company serving a large part of the Netherlands.
Alliander doesn’t produce energy. It focuses on transporting and distributing it. They distribute electricity, biogas, and heat. Think of them as the highway system for energy. Power stations and wind farms create the energy. Then Alliander carries it through their regional grids. These grids connect to the larger national and international networks. TenneT and Gasunie operate these larger grids. More and more people now feed their own energy back into the grid. Alliander makes this possible.
The company is headquartered in Arnhem. But Alliander has locations throughout the Netherlands. Here in Amsterdam, their presence is vital. They maintain and expand the energy infrastructure. This supports Amsterdam’s growth and sustainability goals.
Alliander has two main business units. Liander is the utility network operator. Qirion handles construction and maintenance of energy infrastructures. In 2020, Alliander employed nearly 6,000 people. They serve 5.8 million customer connections. Imagine the scale of their operations. They manage about 92,000 km of electricity cable. They also oversee 42,000 km of gas pipeline. That’s like wrapping the earth in energy lines more than three times.
Alliander is active mainly in Gelderland, Flevoland, Friesland, North Holland and parts of South Holland. They are committed to the energy transition. They give all customers equal access to renewable energy. They help clients switch to renewable energy sources. Alliander enables energy feed-in daily. They connect more charging posts for electric vehicles. This contributes to greener cities.
Natural gas is a bridge fuel. It helps during the energy transition. Alliander, as a gas network operator, supports this temporary solution. The company also aims for circular and climate-neutral operations. They want their operations to run solely on renewable energy. Waste will become input for materials they consume.
Alliander is structured as a Dutch public limited liability company. It has a two-tier management structure. The Management Board handles daily operations. The Supervisory Board oversees the Management Board and overall operations. Dutch provincial authorities and municipalities hold all the shares in Alliander.
So, next time you switch on a light, remember Alliander. They work behind the scenes. They ensure a reliable energy supply. They are paving the way for a sustainable future.