Netherlands’ largest PV project reaches €41 million financial close

German company ib vogt – advised by Dutch concern Solarfields, and HSH Nordbank – has reached financial close on a €41 million ($47.6 million) debt facility for the PV plant. HSH Nordbank will provide non-recourse project financing for the 54 MW Solarpark Scaldia, in the municipalities of Borsele and Vlissingen, in Zeeland.

In 2016 the project received its Stimulation of Sustainable Energy Production (SDE+) permit in the second competitive auction of that year. Ib vogt acquired the project in February 2018 from developer Solarpark Zeeland and commissioning of the project is planned by October, after which the output, as well as Certificates of Origin, will be acquired by Engie under a 17-year Power Purchase Agreement.

“We are very pleased to have achieved this milestone in a very complex project that involves multiple stakeholders, landowners and municipalities,” says Anton Milner, Managing Director of ib vogt GmbH. “We would like to thank our partners for their efforts in reaching the financial close. That will result in the largest solar power plant in the Netherlands to date.”

Ib vogt will start construction this month and will provide O&M services after commissioning of the plant.

With a capacity of 54 MW, the project will produce an average 51,000 MWh of energy per year on a 38-hectare site with 140,000 solar panels.

As the Netherlands is working towards meeting its 2020 climate goals, renewable energy tenders have again gathered pace. In 2016, 6% of the nation's energy came from renewables and the government wants that figure to rise to 14% in 2020 and 24% by 2030.

With scarce uncultivated land and a long coastline, offshore wind has dominated the Netherlands' renewable energy sector and the country has just issued two tenders for subsidy free wind farms to be completed in 2022. Nonetheless, solar power is on the agenda for the Dutch and, according to the National Energy Outlook, solar is set to be part of the renewable energy mix. According to EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index report 2018, the country is posting a strong PV sector.