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Solarcentury is building a 6MWp solar farm, the largest to date in Holland, on Ameland Island in the north of the Netherlands. Solar Park Ameland will provide enough clean solar energy for 1,500 homes, reducing reliance on fossil energy from the mainland. Solarcentury will be responsible for the design and construction of the utility-scale energy system, as well as the maintenance and monitoring of the solar park to ensure it operates as efficiently as possible, therefore producing the maximum yield and the best return on investment.
The solar farm will be built on Ameland’s airfield, and energy will be fed into the local grid for use by local residents. There are construction challenges of building a solar project on a small island, however Solarcentury is experienced at complex solar projects. Last year in the UK, Solarcentury connected a solar system on Blackfriars Bridge which spans the River Thames in the heart of London. The system was installed over a river, above a live railway line.
Michiel van Beek, director of Solar Park Ameland said, “The basis for Solar Park Ameland is a unique collaboration between three different, but complementary, parties being the municipality of Ameland, the local energy cooperation AEC and sustainable energy supplier Eneco; all in it with the goal to build a solar farm for the locals and contributing to the island’s sustainability ambitions. The ambitions to integrate this project into the landscape are high. Therefore we are pleased with the outcome of the European tender process. With Solarcentury we have an experienced international party, with a solid financial position and a local team with strong engineering and project management capability. Together we can build a solar farm fit for the future!”
Solarcentury is currently building solar projects on three continents, including a 10MWp solar farm in Panama, and East Africa’s largest solar car port. In the UK, Solarcentury also built and connected a 48MWp solar park last year. Construction of the Ameland solar park starts this month and is scheduled to be connected to the local grid early 2016.
Dennis de Jong, Director of Solarcentury in the Benelux said, “We are pleased to have won this project as part of a European tender process; it demonstrates the confidence in Solarcentury and our commercial-scale project experience. Ameland Solar Park furthers our ambition to offer customers around the world solar energy with maximum yield at low risk. It’s encouraging to see Dutch people looking to solar as a way to reduce carbon emissions.”