News article
Johan Cruyff ArenA to go green for opening Eredivisie game
Johan Cruyff ArenA is set to host a football match run on sustainable power, thanks to the installation of a new super battery at the stadium, 4,200 solar panels and the use of green energy.
The 55,885-capacity stadium is home of Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax, which will face Heerenveen on the opening day of the 2024-25 season on August 11. The match will be powered by 100% green resources, with initiatives supported in part by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund and Utrecht-based energy provider Groendus.
Everything at the stadium will be run using green power: from the lifts, stadium lights, beer taps through to the lighting in the player tunnel.
The energy from the 4,200 solar panels on the arena’s roof is stored in two super batteries with a total of 8.6 Megawatt hours. This amount of energy would charge 1.7 million phones or provide roughly 20,000 households with power for an hour.
The batteries will be further supplemented with green energy sourced from a local wind turbine and solar park, purchased through the Groendus energy marketplace.
Last year saw Johan Cruyff ArenA, together with Global Sustainable Enterprise System (GSES), launch a new international sustainability standard for events and venues.
The Global Sustainable Venue Benchmark (GSVB) is a measurement and verification process that measures the sustainability of organisations, events and suppliers.
Johan Cruyff ArenA is aiming to become net positive by 2030.
Image: Winston Tjia on Unsplash