13,400 floating solar panels put into use in North Brabant

The floating solar park at Amercentrale in Geertruidenberg in North Brabant It was used† The park, consisting of 13,400 floating solar panels, has a peak power of 6.1 MW.

The solar panels are located in a small lake near the power plant, which was used as cooling water. To prevent them from floating away, the panels were installed in 104 places on 52 concrete blocks weighing 4.6 tons. A total of 25 kilometers of cable was needed to connect the solar panels to the mainland.

Solar Park Amer is an initiative of the German energy company RWE, which owns the Amer power plant that burns coal and biomass. The first phase started in 2018: about 2,000 solar panels on the roof of the power plant. In 2021, another 5,760 solar panels will be added to the Earth. With the new floating part, the park’s total capacity is 9 megawatts. This is enough electricity for 2,300 Dutch families.

RWE invests heavily in renewable energy. In addition to solar energy, the company operates a number of wind farms with a total capacity of 330 megawatts. This will have everything to do with the ban on burning coal in 2030, and the uncertain future of biomass as a fuel. In 2015, RWE opened another coal-fired power plant in Eemshaven, which should close much earlier than expected due to the ban. RWE has filed a lawsuit against the Dutch state For 1.4 billion euros in losses that resulted.

Floating part of Amer solar park

source:
RWE