In the climate agreement, it was agreed that greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands should be reduced by 49% in 2030, and by 100% in 2050 compared to 1990. The industry and electricity sector are jointly responsible for 52% of Dutch CO2 emissions (86 MT CO2/year). 70% of these emissions come from heat production, which industry needs to produce products and utilities. Currently, more than 95% of this heat comes from burning fossil fuels. In order to achieve the climate goals, fossil fuels must therefore be replaced by sustainable alternatives. For successful implementation of these alternatives, solutions must meet the requirements of end users (including the requirements of their stakeholders). This means that systems must comply with: financing requirements, insurance requirements, laws and regulations, supplier guarantees, technical requirements, environmental performance and economic requirements. In addition, technologies should fit the services and products that value chain parties place on them (such as maintenance services). Finally, the competencies must be present in the market in order to be able to offer the products and services around the technology. Developing a solution that meets all these requirements is challenging, especially within the JTF regions, due to constraints in infrastructure/network connections (needed for hydrogen and electrification, among others). However, a solution needs to be found to make energy-intensive industries in these regions more sustainable, as they are collectively responsible for a significant amount of employment and economic activity, but also for significant emissions. With a growing set of measures, there will also be more and more social/economic pressure on the energy-intensive industry to become more sustainable. At the same time, there is a lack of effective solutions for sustainability, which compromises the business continuity of this industry. As a result, its economic added value and associated employment, as well as the availability of its products and services, are at risk. An example of a facility where this occurs is a heat source from a heat network of Ennatuurlijk, located on the Callandweg in Bergen op Zoom. This location particularly needs a solution for decarbonization that also has low NOx emissions, given the proximity of nature reserve Brabantse Wal (Natura 2000 area). This largely eliminates solutions based on hydrogen combustion. In addition, full reliance on electrification is not possible, given the problems surrounding grid congestion, as well as the unpredictability of electricity tariffs. However, without a sustainable, authorised and economically viable solution, the security of utilities can be put under pressure, with all the economic and social consequences for the business customers and households that depend on it. One possible solution to this problem concerns the Iron Fuel TechnologyTM of startup RIFT, in which iron powder is used as an energy carrier. Iron powder is a highly energy-tight, circular and safe energy carrier, which also has little to no losses during storage. In addition, the incineration of iron powder does not require a network connection, as the iron powder can be supplied by ship, train or truck. The combustion (oxidation) of iron powder produces high temperature heat (1500 degrees Cellcius), with no direct CO2 emissions and very low NOx emissions compared to alternatives. Indirect CO2 emissions (including transport) are also low compared to alternatives, and will be even lower as mobility is made more sustainable. RIFT's technology is therefore promising for the decarbonisation of Ennatural, and of the energy-intensive industry within the JTF region in a broad sense. For this reason, RIFT and Ennatuurlijk have joined forces to both expose the problem within this project, as well as to illustrate the potential of Iron Fuel TechnologyTM to solve this problem. In particular, the aim is to realize a 2-4MW Iron Fuel boiler, combined with (additional) electrification of 1-3MW of power. This is working on a licensed solution for the decarbonisation of this location, which is in line with the goals of Ennatural and the JTF program, and when positive results are achieved, the next step is taken towards scaling up the Iron Fuel TechnologyTM. This scaling-up concerns, on the one hand, the further roll-out of the Iron Fuel boiler technology to other locations within the chemical industry within the JTF programme area, the Netherlands and Europe, and the roll-out of the Iron Fuel regeneration technology (detroesting plant), which also falls within the chemical industry (Port of Moerdijk is seen as the 1st potential location). Finally, this involves scaling up the Iron Fuel boiler technology to the Amernet (also managed by Ennatural). This Amernet is responsible for the heat supply of 355 companies (including industrial sites) in Geertruidenberg, Drimmelen, Made, Oosterhout, Breda and Tilburg, as well as 51,000
