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Topic of the Week: Solar parks (Part 3): Solar park under challenging circumstances

Sometimes the environment you are working in would seem inconvenient and challenging. All the more satisfying when all involved pull together and create something great:

Since Lelystad is below sea level, the loose soil was a particular challenge for the company. But now that the construction work has been completed, there is a new solar park there, through which citizens in and around Lelystad can benefit from sustainable energy generation in the future. 

Subsoil creates more difficult conditions

The project was commissioned by the Dutch investor Solarvation B.V. The site chosen was the Wisentweg site. It was only about 60 years ago that this area was wrested from the sea and drained. In addition, old buildings and stables that had been created through the previous use of the area for agricultural studies had to be dismantled before the start of construction of the solar park. This resulted in difficult ground conditions for Goldbeck Solar in these areas.

In particular, the loose subsoil and the soil conditions resulting from the dismantling of buildings created difficult conditions for Goldbeck Solar right from the start. These required additional foundation work in some areas. Nevertheless, the EPC company from Hirschberg managed to complete the construction project within five months. “We are very proud to have completed the project in Lelystad so quickly,” explains Carlos Gómez, project manager. “Thanks to the very fair and cooperative partnership with Solarvation, we were able to find a quick solution to every problem, which did not unnecessarily prolong the construction period. 

Solarvation also benefited as a client from the high flexibility of Goldbeck Solar during the planning phase. This is because the use of space and its design were partially adapted right up to the start of construction. “Thanks to the solution-oriented cooperation, we were able to lead the project to success in a timely manner,” adds Luke Bouwman, partner at Solarvation.

Citizen partizipation

The new solar park, which will ultimately have a total of 38 MW, will be able to supply up to 10,000 households in Lelystad with green energy. The electricity is fed into the public grid. In addition, interested parties can purchase a piece of the park from 25 euros via zonnepanelendelen.nl. This gives every citizen the opportunity to participate in sustainable energy generation in Lelystad. 

“Lelystad now has a technically mature solar park for sustainable and long-term energy generation. This is definitely an important step in the right direction”, sums up Kees van Woerden, partner at Solarvation. in 2019 2.5 GW of new PV installations are expected in the Netherlands. (HCN)

Here, in case you missed them, are Part 1 and Part 2 of this week's series.