Belgium’s PV power surpasses 3.42 GW

Belgium has reached 3.42 GW of installed PV power at the end of 2016, according to data collected by local renewable energy association Apere, which has combined the figures released by the country’s three energy regulators Brugel, VREG, CwaPE.

Of this capacity, 2,451 MW are installed in the region of Flanders, while Wallonia and the Brussels Metropolitan Region have reached a cumulative capacity of 916 MW and 56 MW, respectively. Each of Belgium’s three macro-regions has its own energy systems and its own policy for solar and renewables.

In 2016, Belgium saw a 77% increase in installations with around 170 MW of new PV systems connected to the grid. In the previous year, the new additions had totaled about 100 MW. Flanders, which is also the wealthiest region, registered the largest share of this new capacity with over 103 MW of new PV systems installed last year, followed by Wallonia with 64 MW and the Brussels Metropolitan Region with just 3 MW.

According to Apere, the newly installed PV power in Flanders is mostly represented by residential and commercial installations, while in Wallonia around the half of the capacity installed last year comes from large-scale PV plants, a segment which has seen limited development in the region in previous years.

Furthermore, the association reports that around 60% of the grid-connected PV systems in Belgium have a capacity of up to 10 kW. Yet, Apere reveals that PV was able to produce 2,9 TWh in 2016, thus covering 3.7% of Belgium’s electricity demand.