Eneco’s largest Dutch solar farm becomes operational
Eneco is proud to announce that the Kabeljauwbeek solar farm – Eneco’s largest – is now operational, after the energy company completed the final stages of construction and testing late last year. The electricity produced by the solar farm from 1 January forward is used by KPN to power its networks, including its fiber optic network and its mobile 5G network. Situated in the municipality of Woensdrecht in the province of Noord-Brabant, the Kabeljauwbeek solar farm has been built around the wind farm with the same name.
Work began in February of last year. Since then, some 88,000 solar panels have been installed southwest of the village of Ossendrecht. The farm, lying between the A4 motorway, the Schelde-Rijnkanaal canal and the Belgian border, became operational just before the turn of the year.
Eneco’s first site to feature both a solar farm and a wind farm, Kabeljauwbeek makes optimal use of the available space and the existing connection to the electrical grid. As wind and sun generally do not occur in large amounts at the same time, this set-up makes better use of the electrical connection and creates more moments when Eneco can supply sustainable electricity.
The solar farm will also help to prevent overloads in the grid: on very sunny days, when the solar electricity production is too high, Eneco can deactivate some or all of the solar farm.
KPN uses the solar farm’s electricity for its fixed and mobile networks, drawing around 47 gigawatt hours of green solar electricity per year. KPN previously signed a contract with Eneco for electricity from the Ecowende wind farm. Once the realisation of Ecowende is complete, starting in 2027 approximately two thirds of KPN’s electricity will come from sustainable assets.
The completion of the Kabeljauwbeek solar farm brings Eneco another step closer to achieving the climate goals under the energy company’s One Planet Plan. One of those goals is to be climate-neutral by 2035 and supply all Eneco’s customers with clean energy.
The One Planet Plan also includes biodiversity improvements, and as part of realising the Kabeljauwbeek solar farm the company implemented measures to stimulate the growth of native and local flora. More plants mean a larger habitat for insect populations, which in turn helps farmland birds, small mustelids and other species to thrive.