Featured in More than just a number – 03-2018

A watershed year

Belgium market update: Once among Europe’s leaders in solar PV deployment, with more than 1 GW of capacity added in its peak year of 2011, Belgium’s market lost momentum following the abrupt closure of generous subsidy programs. In recent years, driven by its residential PV segment, the country has experienced a solar comeback, which became particularly prominent in the year just passed.
Nyrstar’s Overpelt Zinc smelting plant, located 18 km outside the Flemish town of Balen. Nyrstar will purchase all of the energy generated at the Kristal Solar Park, a 100 MW project planned to begin construction in September 2018.

Where strong political will meets a drop in deployment costs, this is where Belgium’s 2017 solar story starts.Last year, the European nation upped its cumulative solar capacity by 271 MW to reach 3.8 GW, according to official data from the Association for the Promotion of Renewable Energies (APERe). Considering Europe’s 2017 solar installations of 8.61 …

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