With the consent of the members, Léon Ammerlaan has been appointed as a new board member of Geothermie Nederland as of April 17 for a period of three years. The board was looking for a board member with specific knowledge of geothermal energy in greenhouse horticulture. 
© Geothermie Nederland
Léon Ammerlaan from Pijnacker is originally a grower of tropical potted plants. As the first ornamental plant grower, he developed a geothermal installation with his brother Menno in 2010, and thus Leon currently runs two companies, one in potted plants and one in geothermal energy, Ammerlaan The Green Innovator (TGI). With this, they extract geothermal energy for their own use and supply it to customers in the region.
Besides the stable energy price, sustainability has been Léon Ammerlaan's driving force to invest in geothermal energy. In 2020, Amerlaan TGI won the EZK Energy Award. The tropical plant nursery is the first in the Netherlands to supply geothermal energy for greenhouses and homes. Ammerlaan TGI provides heat as a fully-fledged energy company for a school, a public swimming pool, a sports complex, 543 homes, and 24 fellow gardeners. This saves 12,500,000 m3 of natural gas and 22,250 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
Practical knowledge
Léon: "In the process of developing geothermal energy, I learned a lot that you don't learn at any school. Now that I sit at the table with the municipality and the government a lot, I look at these institutions differently. You can't get there without cooperation. You need everyone: governments, knowledge institutions, colleagues, you name it. We all learn from this. We don't market our knowledge, we share it. In my view, that belongs in the horticultural sector. And I want to continue that sharing of knowledge in my role as a board member for Geothermie Nederland."
"We are pleased that Léon wants to use his knowledge, experience, and vision for the sector as a whole. Especially now that Radboud Vorage has left the board, the representation of greenhouse horticulture and the practical knowledge about the application of geothermal energy within this sector is of great importance. Léon's conviction that cooperation and knowledge sharing are essential for further growth of geothermal energy aligns seamlessly with the mission of Geothermie Nederland. The board has therefore unanimously nominated Léon as a board member as of April 17, 2025, for a period of three years," responds the board of Geothermie Nederland.
Source: Geothermal Netherlands