The floating solar park at the Amercentrale in Geertruidenberg in North Brabant has been put into use† The park, which consists of 13,400 floating solar panels, has a capacity of 6.1 megawatt peak.
The solar panels are located in a small lake near the power station, which used to be used as cooling water. To prevent them from floating away, the panels are anchored in 104 places to 52 4.6-ton concrete blocks. A total of 25 kilometers of cable was needed to connect the solar panels to the mainland.
Solar Park Amer is an initiative of German energy company RWE, the owner of the Amer power station that burns coal and biomass. The first phase started in 2018: about 2,000 solar panels on the roof of the power station. In 2021 another 5,760 solar panels were added on the ground. With the new floating part, the park has a total capacity of 9 megawatt peak. That is enough electricity for 2300 Dutch households.
RWE is investing 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 station in Eemshaven, which has to close much earlier than expected due to the ban. RWE has sued the Dutch state for the 1.4 billion euros in losses that result.
The floating part of Solar Park Amer
Bron:
RWE
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