Vattenfall to build solar array along Dutch highway

Sweden-based energy producer Vattenfall has revealed plans to build a 16.8 MWp solar project along the Trekweg A6 highway near the city of Almere, in the Netherlands. The highway in the province of Flevoland is the shortest connection between Amsterdam and the northern provinces of Friesland and Groningen.

The park will host 25,000 bifacial solar panels mounted on a tracking system. It will span 20 hectares, with an additional 5 hectares to be dedicated to a green zone for biodiversity preservation.

Vattenfall said it has applied for a permit to build the site, which it claims will be the first subsidy-free solar project in the Netherlands. The land is owned by the Dutch government. The company expects to complete a tender for project developers by the end of 2023. Construction is set to begin in 2024.

“A condition for this is that there is room on the busy energy grid in the area. We have been discussing this with the grid operator from the start of the project,” said the company, noting that it will start operations in late 2024 or early 2025.

The project joins a list of several solar parks that are being built along Dutch highways. The latest project was announced by Dutch energy cooperative Energie Coöperatie Bunnik (ECB) and IX Zon in January. They are building the 16 MW solar project along the A12 motorway, which connects The Hague with the German border of Gelderland province, in the eastern Netherlands.

In June, four other projects were announced by the Rijkswaterstaat, which is the water management agency of the Netherlands, under the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The plants are being developed close to on-ramps and off-ramps of the A7 highway, which connects Zaandam, in the province of North Holland, with the German border.