KROONENBERG GROEP EN ING DONATE 600 SOLAR PANELS TO ARTIS

Today, on Amsterdam’s 750th birthday, Artis will receive a gift of over 600 solar panels on its roofs, many of them so-called Chameleon panels. In addition to their appropriate shape, these panels change colour along with the buildings, thus preserving the zoo’s historical character. The financial savings that can be achieved through lower energy costs will be used to give schoolchildren and city pass holders with limited budgets access to Artis. Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam, Steven van Rijswijk (ING) and Lesley Bamberger (Kroonenberg Groep) symbolically handed over the first panel to Artis’s director Rembrandt Sutorius today.

The panels for Artis are part of a gift of 5,500 solar panels to the city of Amsterdam, offered by ING and Kroonenberg Groep as part of the city’s 750th birthday celebrations. The energy cost savings will benefit lower-income Amsterdam residents through free admission, discounts or memberships at social and cultural institutions whose buildings will be fitted with the panels.

Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema: “What a wonderful birthday gift for our city. Not to mention the energy savings that will benefit residents who have less to spend.”

Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING: “We are happy to see that our collective gift to the birthday city, including to Artis, directly benefits Amsterdam residents. The energy savings from the deployment of the panels gives social institutions more financial space for new initiatives. ING has been firmly rooted in Amsterdam since 1881, and this project highlights our connection to the city.”

Lesley Bamberger, CEO of Kroonenberg Groep, adds: “For this special birthday, we wanted to give a gift that would allow us to make a positive impact for Amsterdam residents on limited budgets. I am proud of what we have already achieved with this over the past year and a half. In addition, the solar panels contribute to the sustainability of the properties in question, something we also constantly strive for in our daily work.”

The project, called “Amsterdamse Maatschappelijke Sonnepanelen” (Amsterdam Community Solar Panels), with a nod to the Amsterdam accent, also accelerates the preservation of (historic) buildings of sports clubs, care institutions, community centres and cultural organisations throughout the city, including Weesp. A total of 2,870 panels have already been installed, good for 875,000 KWh per year. Ultimate goal: 2,250 MWh per year, comparable to the consumption of about 900 households.

The project involves a collaboration with the City of Amsterdam and social

institutions renting the relevant buildings from Gemeentelijk Vastgoed (Municipal Property) on which the panels will be installed. Due to the mostly listed status of buildings, solar panels are adapted accordingly. The aim is to complete the entire project by the end of 2027.

For an update on all the solar panels, visit: www.sonnepanelen.nl