Netherlands

At the end of June, Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA inaugurated Europe’s largest energy storage system using new and second-life energy storage batteries in a commercial building, alongside partners Eaton, The Mobility House, Nissan and BAM. pv magazine attended the event and spoke to those involved. Below is the first in a series of three interviews with the partners, looking at their involvement in the project, and what their future plans are.

The project – the largest storage system using second-life and new electric vehicle batteries installed at a commercial building in Europe to date – was developed in partnership with Eaton, BAM and The Mobility House. pv magazine was present at the commissioning ceremony.

The Netherlands is a country with one of the highest population densities in the world and, as a consequence, it has constrained availability of surfaces and land for all kinds of purpose, including the deployment of rooftop solar power generators. Residential PV could really help the country implement its challenging energy transition, which is to reach its almost impossible RES targets for 2020.

Under the new scheme, set to come into force in 2020, homeowners and small businesses investing in solar and other renewables can expect a payback period of around seven years. They will also be exempt from paying energy taxes and the ODE (Opslag Duurzame Energie), a levy on power consumers that finances the country’s renewable energy programs, for self-consumed electricity,

European markets: Growth in solar installations returned to European shores in 2017, with some of the usual suspects posting big numbers, and several new players awakening to the possibilities of PV. Here, pv magazine provides an overview of the latest movements on the continent.

The project is being developed by Solarcentury and Encavis, who are working on what they claim is the “largest [PV] farm” in the Netherlands, near the city of Eindhoven.

The glass-glass PV module manufacturer will install a new production line at its facility in The Hague thanks to new funds provided by the government of the region of South Holland, and Dutch banking giants ING and ABN Amro.

Energyra promises to be a lot of things: the first module maker to bring production back to the Netherlands; a manufacturer relying entirely on Made in Europe equipment and Dutch back contact solar cell technology; and a start-up betting on quality, innovation, automation, as well as high performance modules. pv magazine visited the company’s factory in Zaanstad, to get more detail on this ambitious project.

The Spanish power provider developed the pilot project with the Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya and German spin-off Ineratec. Meanwhile, the European Power to Gas Platform has issued a paper demanding more regulatory certainty for power-to-gas, and to include it as an alternative in the cost-benefit analysis for grid extensions.

A loan of $64 million was awarded by French development bank Proparco and Dutch peer FMO. The facility will deliver electricity to the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited at a price of $85/MWh over 20 years.