Energy efficiency Long Term Agreements (LTAs) in the Netherlands

Second phase is half way

The second phase of the Long Term Agreements (LTA2) on Energy Efficiency in the Netherlands, running from 2001 to 2012, is currently about halfway.

A report by Senter Novem, the Durch Organisation for Energy and Environment, presents the results of LTA2 in 2005.

Since 1990

The LTAs on Energy Efficiency in the Netherlands date back to the early 1990s. Since then, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been making LTAs (or covenants) with various energy-intensive sectors as part of Dutch energy policy. The education sector, healthcare institutions, and a number of agricultural sectors also joined the LTA scheme. The initial agreements with industry ended in 2000. Given the success of the first-generation LTAs, both government and industry decided to sign new agreements, known as LTA2.

LTA2 Action points

To join LTA2, companies must:

• Draft or redraft an energy conservation plan every four years
• Implement obligatory so-called good housekeeping savings measures
• Introduce systematic energy care
• Increase the use of sustainable energy sources
• Save energy through efficient product development
• Submit yearly reports on the progress they have made

2005 was a good year

For LTA2, 2005 was indeed a good year. The number of LTA2 participants in the industrial sector reached 908. In addition, some ten thousand companies in the agricultural sector are also participating in energy efficiency agreements. The participants improved their energy efficiency in 2005 by an average of 2.2 per cent.