Europe’s Largest Floating Solar Farm Underway in Netherlands
February 15th, 2022

Via Bloomberg, an article on a new floating solar farm in the Netherlands:

German renewable energy developer Baywa r.e. has begun constructing what will be the largest floating solar farm outside of China.

The 27-megawatt Bomhofsplas solar farm is set to include 73,000 solar panels on a sandpit lake in Zwolle in the Netherlands, the company said in a statement. For places like Northern Europe where land is in tight supply, floating technology could open up new areas for renewable energy development.

Baywa has installed close to a third of the solar farm in two weeks, its fastest deployment time yet for such a project. The company said floating installations are easier to install than similar projects on land and could produce more power thanks to a cooling effect from the water.

“Our ability to deliver floating solar farms in such a short space of time is an exciting new opportunity for Europe and its bid to be carbon free by 2050,” said Benedikt Ortmann, global director of polar Projects at Baywa.

China has led the way with floating solar farms so far, with the biggest projects in the world. But other countries could soon catch up. The project in Zwolle is Baywa’s fourth in less than two years and Thailand has ambitions to build utility-scale projects in the coming years.

The main drawback is cost. Floating solar projects cost about $100,000 more per megawatt, according to BloombergNEF. It’s also not yet clear if solar panels degrade faster in high humidity conditions than they would on land.

The project is scheduled for completion by March.


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About This Blog And Its Author
As the scarcity of water and energy continues to grow, the linkage between these two critical resources will become more defined and even more acute in the months ahead.  This blog is committed to analyzing and referencing articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between water and energy -- The Watergy Nexus -- and will endeavor to provide a central clearinghouse for insightful articles and comments for all to consider.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy.  Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation.  He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”