Pilot Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden, a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the north of the Netherlands, has been actively working to reduce energy consumption among low-income households since 2016 through its Social Energy Policy. With rising energy prices putting additional pressure on household budgets, the city has developed an approach centered on personalized, bottom-up support to help residents lower their energy bills.
The pilots' core: energy coaching & scalable solutions
The pilot in Leeuwarden focuses on expanding and improving the Energy Coaching Program, which provides direct, hands-on support to households struggling with energy costs. Energy Coaches visit homes to offer tailored advice and practical energy-saving measures, such as LED bulbs, draft-proofing, and water-saving showerheads. By scaling up these initiatives, Leeuwarden aims to reach more households and introduce more impactful energy-saving solutions.
Approach
Building on previous experiences, Leeuwarden’s pilot will enhance its impact through three key actions:
- Expanding the insulation pilot: Increasing the number of households benefiting from insulation improvements, ensuring better energy efficiency and comfort.
- Scaling up the household appliances pilot: Helping residents replace outdated, energy-intensive applianceswith more efficient models to reduce energy consumption.
- Enhancing the energy coaching program: Strengthening the role of energy coaches by integrating new digital tools, data-driven approaches, and best practices developed in collaboration with project partners.
Additionally, Leeuwarden plays a key role in coordinating knowledge exchange within the project, sharing insights from its pilots, and leading collaborative activities such as study visits and partner meetings.
Expected impact
By expanding and refining its community-based energy-saving approach, Leeuwarden aims to create a sustainable, replicable model for tackling energy poverty. The expected results include:
✔ Lower energy bills for vulnerable households
✔ Increased energy awareness and self-sufficiency among residents
✔ A stronger, data-driven Energy Coaching Program
✔ Inspiration and practical insights for other cities facing similar challenges
Get in touch & share knowledge
While bringing significant expertise to SCEPA, Arnhem also seeks to gain valuable practices from partners to further strengthen its approach to reducing energy poverty through innovation, collaboration, and community-centered solutions. Are you interested in learning more about this pilot project or sharing your own insights? Please contact us. Your experience and knowledge could contribute to developing even more effective strategies to combat energy poverty in our communities.
Dorinda van der Veen
Dorinda is the project leader and coordinator for Leeuwarden within this project. She monitors the implementation of the pilots and adjusts where necessary.
Ewout Oppers
Ewout is European affairs advisor at the municipality of Leeuwarden. From this role, he is mainly concerned with organisational matters within the project and advises on the rules and opportunities within Interreg North West Europe.
Dirk Minnema
Dirk is our financial expert. He is the project controller for Leeuwarden for this project and sees to it that funding is properly arranged.
Charlotte de Boer
Charlotte works as a policy advisor at the municipality of Leeuwarden mainly working on energy saving and alternatives to natural gas. Within this project, Charlotte is mainly working on communication.
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