The Amsterdam Arena is the city’s largest stadium and has been the home of AFC Ajax since 1996. Many famous performers have filled its 68,000 seats to capacity including Take That, Madonna, Coldplay, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones. Even when a football match is in progress, it still manages to accommodate 54,033 fans. It will change its brand name to Johan Cruijff Arena at the start of the 2018-2019 football season.
Powering the Amsterdam Arena into a Greener Future
Johan Cruijff died in 2016 of lung cancer after being a heavy smoker until he stopped in 1991. One tribute to him by Gary Lineker read, “Football has lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history.”
His birthplace, Amsterdam, is making wonderful progress with alternative energy. The Amsterdam Arena went green on July 2nd, 2018 with new and second-use electric car batteries. Their 2.8 megawatt-hour capacity makes this the largest storage system for a commercial building in Europe. It also makes the stadium one of the most sustainable in the world.
A Brief Description of the Huge Renewable System
Power to charge the batteries comes from 4,200 solar panels on the roof. These photovoltaics charge 148 Nissan Leaf electric car batteries. Some of these are in their second life, while others are new.
The system is bi-directional, in that it can receive electricity from the grid, and return it to help stabilize the system. Stadium director of innovation Henk van Raan told Digital Journal, “The Amsterdam Arena [as we now know it]is assured of a considerable amount of power. Even during an outage. As a result, the stadium will contribute to a stable Dutch energy grid.”
We wish the stadium and its fans the very best with this electrifying new idea. And for its courage for marking the road to the future. As Johan Cruijff himself said, “To have people copy you, to admire you, that is the greatest gift.
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Preview Image: 2016 Netherlands-France Friendly Tribute
