The Central Government Real Estate Agency (RVB), Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority plan to construct a new floating solar farm in Rotterdam’s western port area. Therefore, they seek for the ideal participant to operate the new facility, which is reported to be the largest of its kind to be ever constructed in the Netherlands. The partners announced that they will organise a market consultation on May 8.
De Slufter will be the site for the new floating solar farm. The area is a large 250-ha depot for contaminated dredging spoil at Maasvlakte.
Located in the western area of the port, it’s one of the sunniest sites in the Netherlands.
It is estimated that some 100 ha of surface water can be made available for the construction of a floating solar farm. The potential capacity of the new farm is circa 100 MWp – roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 33,000 households.
This would make ‘Sun on De Slufter’ the Netherlands’ largest floating solar farm by far.
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Moreover, the solar farm is in line with the Port Authority’s strategy to intensively promote the energy transition in the port and encourage the use of solar panels and wind turbines.
The ‘Sun on De Slufter’ project is part of ‘Renewable energy on national and Rijkswaterstaat sites’, a collaboration by RWS, RVB and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RON).
The goal to learn how national sites can be optimally utilised for the generation of power from renewable sources.
The partners have already trialled floating solar panels at De Slufter, resulting to the swell generated by heavy weather, damaging the floating support structure.
Concluding, the construction of the park is expected to begin in 2022-2023.
