Netherlands-based railway company NS has announced that the company’s entire fleet of electric trains now run on 100% renewable windpower.
Last year, the company collaborated with energy company Eneco to reduce emissions.
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After NS launched a tender two years ago, Eneco won it and the two companies later signed a ten-year agreement.
Eneco account manager Michel Kerkhof said: “What makes this contract and partnership unique is that a whole sector decreases its CO2 footprint enormously and sets an example for other sectors to follow.”
By the end of this year, all public transport trains in the Netherlands will be completely powered by renewable energy sources such as windpower.
The transition of public transport trains in the country to 100% renewables was initially planned to be achieved by 2018.
The early achievement is primarily due to completion of several windfarm projects in the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland.
At present, 2.4 million homes are receiving power from a total of 2,200 wind turbines across the country.
The train network in Netherlands alone will require 1.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year.
As anticipated by renewable energy advocates, the latest step will help reduce the environmental footprint of the rail network in the country.
