From a cancer drug laboratory to the rate you pay per kWh at home
Cancer drug development, the work this address was built around from 2022 to 2025, starts in a laboratory long before a medicine reaches a clinic. Chemists design linker molecules, biologists test them on tumour cells, and the work runs under fume hoods, ventilated benches and freezers that stay on around the clock. The US Department of Energy notes that laboratories on average use far more energy per square foot than office buildings, because the work is energy-intensive and the rules for safe air are stricter.
That electricity is bought in kWh from an energy supplier, under a contract that fixes the rate per kWh. The rate is the part a buyer can change, and in the Netherlands households change it by moving to another leverancier. Milieu Centraal puts the average Dutch home at 2,430 kWh of electricity and 1,040 m3 of gas a year, and says what you pay depends on your energiecontract, with large differences between contracts. Moving that use to a cheaper contract is called overstappen energie.
What sets an electricity bill, in a lab and in a Dutch home
| Part of the bill | Drug laboratory | Dutch household |
| Use | Hoods, benches and freezers, all year | About 2,430 kWh a year on average |
| Rate per kWh | Set in the supply contract | Set in your energiecontract |
| When to act | When the supply contract ends | Before the end date: check the opzegvergoeding |
Sources: US Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency in Laboratories; Milieu Centraal, Gemiddeld energieverbruik
Hieronder volgt de volledige Nederlandse uitleg van overstappenenergie.io: overstappen energie, stap voor stap.