Growing Dutch PV market draws attention

02/09/2018 | Print view

Construction of the PV plant “Zonnepark Lange Runde” in Emmen. - © Belectric — © Belectric

Construction of the PV plant “Zonnepark Lange Runde” in Emmen.

The growing Dutch PV market attracts more and more companies and investors. Belectric now realized a 14 MW high-voltage solar park for Statkraft with O&M contracts.

Yesterday the Dutch PV plant “Zonnepark Lange Runde” was officially inaugurated. Belectric has built this PV plant with around 14 MWp installed capacity as an EPC (Engineering-Procurement-Construction) provider on behalf of Statkraft and in close cooperation with the municipality of Emmen. In addition, Belectric has been appointed as a service provider for the operation and maintenance of the plant which is located in Emmen, in the province of Drenthe. The service contract includes remote power plant monitoring, regular inspections and on-site support in the event of a fault. Belectric is one of the largest Operations & Maintenance (O&M) providers worldwide, managing a portfolio of over 1.3 GW of installed utility scale PV solar plants and Battery storage systems worldwide.

First 1,500-volt solar park in Benelux

The PV plant “Zonnepark Lange Runde” is the largest solar park that has been realised in the Netherlands in 2017. The park covers a 17 hectare plot of land and consists of more than 118,000 solar panels. It generates enough power to supply approximately 4,000 households per year with green electricity. The PV plant was connected to the grid in December 2017. It is the first project in the Benelux region to use the 1,500-volt technology invented by Belectric. During the operational phase of the plant several environmental projects are planned in conjunction with the local community.

Netherlands one of the key European PV markets

“As Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy, Statkraft is proud to officially inaugurate its first solar park in the Netherlands. We are pleased with the good cooperation we have had with Belectric”, says Niels van der Linden, head of Statkraft’s Dutch solar team. “This projects marks a successful entry in what we expect to be one of the key PV markets in Europe for the next couple of years”, explains Ingo Alphéus, CEO of Belectric Solar & Battery GmbH.

This year Belectric is building another PV plant for a customer in the Netherlands. Commissioning of this plant with a capacity of around 12 MW is anticipated this summer. The Dutch PV market is expected to grow by more than 1 GW this year, driven mainly by the falling costs and the SDE+ scheme. (HCN)