Solar Magazine – Hard to find space for solar parks by Ede Municipality

With this plan, the municipality of Ede is generating solar energy over the parking lots, on the “remaining land” and on temporarily available land. In a letter to the Municipal Council, the Executive Council provided an update on the progress of the action plan.

318 hectares
In determining the wind and solar sundial, the municipality asked the mayor and local council members in 2019 to determine which portion of the Edese mission’s 318 hectares of solar field could be populated on the so-called ‘remaining land’ and by dual use of the space. Based on the research, it was concluded that the “remaining land” does not provide enough space for the overall task, and therefore other land, such as farmland, is also needed.

50 locations
Consulting agency InEnergie has conducted a preliminary exploration of more than 50 sites on the municipal property to determine whether the realization of the solar project has sufficient prospects from a spatial, technical and financial perspective. Based on this, the 12 most promising sites were selected and examined in more detail. This indicates that most municipally owned car parks are unsuitable. The same applies to solar panels floating on the water. A temporary solar field at Kernhem Noord appears to be possible, depending on the pace of housing development. The temporary solar park may not disrupt or delay the development of the residential area.

the trees
According to the research, the possibilities of having a roof with solar panels in municipal car parks are in most cases limited by the trees in and around the car parks. The municipality considers that cutting down trees for solar panels is undesirable.

The largest parking areas in the municipality that look interesting for solar powered cars are privately owned. So the municipal council is in talks with these owners to explore whether these sites can be used to generate solar energy.

Airport sharing
In cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the Central Government Real Estate Agency (RVB) and the municipality of Arnhem, it is being investigated whether and in what form part of the Dillen Airport can be used for solar energy. So far, this has not led to a concrete initiative, in part because connectivity capacity in the area is limited and the possibility of developing a solar park is being considered by the Central State Real Estate and Defense Agency in an integrated manner with other developments at their sites. in this area.

In collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat Oost Nederland, Waterschap Vallei & Veluwe and grid operator Liander, the municipality started the Energy Corridor A30-A12 project this summer, as part of the National Central Government Real Estate Energy Generation (OER) Program of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. Among other things, it is being explored whether solar panels can be used on existing and new noise barriers, on slopes and “residual strips” along roads. The results of the exploration are expected at the beginning of 2022.