Goldbeck Solar plans 150 MW of solar in the Netherlands

EPC provider, Goldbeck Solar has commenced construction on a 15.1 MW solar PV farm near the small town of Andijk, in the Netherlands, for project owner, Astronergy.

According to the announcement, groundbreaking already took place in June, while the plant is expected to be commissioned by the end of this September. “We have opted for an east-west orientation in order to improve the performance ratio. Thus, the 11.6-hectare area could be used efficiently, also by using high-efficiency PERC PV modules,” said Tobias Friedrich, Goldbeck's Head of Solar Netherlands.

Following completion, the project is set to be sold to an undisclosed investor. The generated electricity, meanwhile, will be bought by a Dutch utility. Having secured the project under the 2017 SDE+ tender rounds, Astronergy will also receive a premium of around €0.10 per kWh.

Other recent projects developed by Goldbeck Solar in cooperation with Astronergy and the unnamed investor, sold the generated electricity to Dutch utility, Eneco.

Speaking to pv magazine, a spokesperson for Goldbeck Solar said the company currently has a 150 MW PV pipeline in the Netherlands.

In related news, the Netherlands' FrieslandCampina Solar program has attracted a total of 772 dairy farms, with the number having more than doubled since last year. “In total, 840,000 solar panels can now be installed. These provide half of the electricity requirements of FrieslandCampina’s production locations and offices in the Netherlands,” it said in a statement released.

It added that the first solar roofs have now been delivered by supplier, GroenLeven. It expects to finish 50 roofs by the end of 2018, and then will “speed up to install solar panels on 20 roofs per week. For example, about 22,000 solar panels per week can then be installed on average,” it said. The project is supported by an SDE + subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

With regards to the subsidy, the Goldbeck Solar spokesperson said the Dutch solar market is a very attractive one, due to the lucrative SDE+ scheme, which is helping to attracting many investments.

The SDE+ program compensates for the difference between the cost price of renewable energy and the market value of the energy supplied. Subsidies are allocated for periods of eight, 12 or 15 years, depending on the maximum number of full load hours for each technology.

In December, the Dutch government announced that the budget for the 2018 SDE+ program will remain unchanged at €12 billion. This year, 1.5 GW of new solar capacity is expected to be added, with more installations coming in the following years.

Recently, the Netherlands has tabled a draft Climate Agreement proposal, with surprising support from the far-right benches of parliament. The draft will be debated further, and the final version could be signed before the end of this year.

With the Climate Agreement, significant investments will continue in large-scale projects until 2025, after which the SDE+ system is likely to end. The net metering system is also set to be replaced by a feed-in system, which provides continued support for end users of solar.