UvA budgets extra millions for energy costs

‘There is currently a discussion going on within the Finance, Planning & Control department about how the UvA's energy budget for next year should be financed. The energy costs in that budget will increase by 25 to 50 percent as a result of rising energy prices. In absolute figures, this means an increase of €2.5 to 5 million,’ says UvA energy coordinator Diederik ten Brink. ‘The exact amount is not yet fixed and also depends on the measures that are taken now, such as lowering the indoor temperature by one degree or reducing the opening hours of buildings.’

De Vrije Energie Producent (The Free Energy Producer)

Geopolitical tensions and the war in Ukraine are having an impact on energy bills for both companies and consumers. Even before the war in Ukraine broke out, this led to rising energy prices. The UvA has not been affected by this so far, Ten Brink told last October. ‘For 2022, the rising gas price has no consequences for the UvA's budget. The full required volume is fixed. I do foresee a possible substantial cost increase for 2023. That increase is now imminent.’ Ten Brink cannot say much more about the energy contract, except that for next year ‘the current supplier will be retained’. That is currently De Vrije Energie Producent or DVEP (The Free Energy Producer).

The government has now promised that households and companies can receive a discount on their rising energy bills this year. The energy tax is going down once for companies this year, but the UvA has benefited little from this, says Ten Brink. ‘For the UvA, the tax has dropped by about €50,000. Perhaps it will drop further for 2023, but even this reduction will have little impact on the budget.’

Thermostat

This week it was announced that government agencies are turning the thermostat down two degrees, to 19 degrees in government buildings. The University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam announced earlier this week that it was participating in the government campaign. Ten Brink expects that the UvA will also participate in the measure. ‘I assume that the thermostat reduction will be accepted. The impact of this can vary from building to building. I expect that the installations will be examined in a broader sense. The performance of the installations varies in different properties. In some properties you are already at 19 degrees, while on Roeterseiland Campus you are at 22 or even 23 degrees in some rooms. I expect that this thermostat reduction will prompt an analysis of the actual impact on comfort in the broader sense.’

19 degrees

The UvA announced through a spokesperson that the thermostat is indeed going down by two degrees. Because the climate control differs per location and the UvA wants to let students and employees get used to it, the temperature will be lowered ‘gradually’, the spokesperson announced. ‘Through this reduction we will ultimately save 15 percent in heat consumption. For those who are used to 21 degrees and appreciate that temperature, it will be less comfortable.’ How gradual ‘gradual’ is, according to the spokesperson, is impossible to say exactly. ‘What matters is that we, as the UvA, want to make a contribution and commit to it. But it cannot be organised overnight with the push of a button. We have to organise it and that is easier to do in the Maagdenhuis, for example, than in Science Park where laboratories are used.’