Eneco Sustainable Thermal Source to Support Energy Hub for Dutch Government Offices at Parnassusplein and Rijnstraat

Eneco Sustainable Thermal Source to Support Energy Hub for Dutch Government Offices at Parnassusplein and Rijnstraat

(IN BRIEF) Eneco is partnering with EnergieRijk Den Haag, Stedin and the Dutch Central Government Real Estate Agency to create a shared energy hub for two large government office buildings in The Hague, enabling sustainability improvements despite electrical grid congestion. The project will combine the buildings’ electrical connections under a collective Group Transmission Agreement, allowing available capacity to be used more efficiently. One of the buildings lacked sufficient contracted electrical capacity for an additional heat pump, while the other had spare capacity, making a joint approach possible. The energy hub will allow the buildings to make better use of Eneco’s sustainable geothermal heating and cooling source, with potential savings of up to 124 tonnes of CO₂ per year at optimum efficiency. The offices at Parnassusplein house around 3,500 employees from several government bodies, including the Ministries of Social Affairs and Health, Welfare and Sport, and the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. Eneco and EnergieRijk Den Haag are also assessing whether the Rijnstraat 8 district battery can be integrated into the hub. The initiative could offer a practical model for making government real estate across the Netherlands more sustainable in areas affected by grid constraints.

(PRESS RELEASE) ROTTERDAM, 4-Jun-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Eneco is working with the EnergieRijk Den Haag programme, grid operator Stedin and the Dutch Central Government Real Estate Agency to help two large government office buildings in The Hague switch to a more sustainable energy supply despite congestion on the electrical grid.

The project will combine the electrical connections of the office blocks at Parnassusplein and Rijnstraat, creating a shared energy hub that allows the buildings to make more efficient use of sustainable geothermal heating and cooling without adding further pressure to the grid. The approach looks beyond individual buildings and treats local heating, cooling and electricity systems as one coordinated energy system.

The initiative could serve as a blueprint for government real estate across the Netherlands, where grid congestion is increasingly making it difficult to implement sustainability upgrades. Frans Deeleman, programme director of EnergieRijk Den Haag, said that taking a broader view of government properties can help reduce fossil-fuel dependency and make public-sector energy supply more resilient.

The Parnassusplein buildings house around 3,500 employees from organisations including the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, and the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. Making the heating and cooling system more sustainable required an additional heat pump, but one of the buildings lacked sufficient contracted electrical capacity. Because of grid congestion, that contract could not be expanded.

The solution was to assess the two buildings together. One building had spare electrical capacity, allowing the partners to create an energy hub in which the buildings’ separate electricity contracts will be converted into a collective Group Transmission Agreement. Under this arrangement, the buildings will only use electricity within the available capacity, avoiding extra stress on the grid.

This shared capacity model will make it possible to install the additional heat pump and maximise the use of Eneco’s sustainable thermal source. At optimum efficiency, the system can save up to 124 tonnes of CO₂ per year, substantially improving the sustainability performance of the buildings.

To further relieve grid pressure and strengthen the local energy system, EnergieRijk Den Haag and Eneco are also exploring whether the district battery at Rijnstraat 8 can be integrated into the energy hub.

Maarten Bijl, Regional Director at Stedin, said the Netherlands needs smart partnerships that consider more than the energy needs of individual buildings. He noted that the electrical grid cannot be upgraded endlessly, making innovative projects like this essential to wider sustainability progress.

Max Droste, Director Strategy and Digitalisation at the Central Government Real Estate Agency, said the project has generated practical experience in setting up and designing energy hubs. He added that the broader property-level approach makes sustainability solutions feasible in situations where individual building upgrades would otherwise be impossible.

Ron Wit, Director of Eneco’s Heating division, said viewing properties in an area collectively, and treating heating, cooling and electricity systems as an integrated whole, creates significant sustainability opportunities even when grid congestion is a challenge. He added that close cooperation between energy partners can help make better use of existing energy sources and available electricity capacity across the Netherlands.

Media Contact:

Rianne de Voogt
Senior woordvoerder
rianne.devoogt@eneco.com
+31 6 11418016

SOURCE: Eneco