U.K.-based PV developer Solarcentury has signed a deal to construct and maintain one of the Netherlands’ largest solar parks.
The developer announced the agreement to construct the 110 MW Vlagtwedde Solar Farm, in Westerwolde, in a press release issued jointly with agrivoltaic mounting system supplier Powerfield and London-based asset management firm Impax, which will own the facility.
No details were given about contract value or whether the site is being built with any kind of subsidy.
The 100ha Vlagtwedde facility is set to be operational in the second half of next year, when it will begin generating 104 GWh of solar electricity annually, enough to power 30,000 households. The site will feature 350,000 solar panels, supplied by an unnamed manufacturer.
The press release issued today to announce the project added a 24ha blueberry farm has been planted as part of the agreement, to landscape the site and provide further local employment opportunities.
“We have been working on the development of Solar Park Vlagtwedde since 2016,” said Powerfield chief financial officer Jean Louis Bertholet in the press release. “With 110 MW this is the largest concrete solar park in the Netherlands.” The CFO added: “Twenty hectares of blueberries have been planted for the landscape integration of the solar park and employment in the municipality of Westerwolde. The size of the blueberry cultivation in combination with the solar park makes this a unique project. Soon, more than 30,000 households will be supplied with green electricity every year and more than 180,000 kilos of blueberries will be grown.”
This article was amended on 24/10/19 to remove the mention of Energyra as Powerfield’s solar module supplier. Energyra filed for insolvency in April.
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Powerfield was the original developer, not the BOS provider.
Harpel Vlagtwedde solar parc has a SDE subsidy allocation already from autumn round of 2017. Sofar, no solar parcs of this size are realized without SDE subsidy in Netherlands.
Energyra has been declared bankrupt as of April 1, this year. Talks are still underway to try to relaunch the (nascent) PV module factory in Zaanstad.
Thanks for filling in the blanks for us Peter.