World’s ‘largest’ solar carport opens in Netherlands

The Solar Carport Biddinghuizen — “the world’s largest solar carport” — has recently been opened in the Netherlands amidst the presence of influential decision-makers within the country’s sustainability sector. The 35-hectare Solar Carport was realized at the Lowlands Festival car park by Solarfields, a producer of sustainable energy and realizes solar energy systems.

The company develops solar projects at various locations, such as land, roofs, former landfill sites and car parks – intending to make the Netherlands more sustainable and supply clean energy to 1 million households by 2030.

‘Largest’ sustainable car park

The surface of the sustainable parking area covers 35 hectares and offers space for 15,000 cars. With the help of 90,000 solar panels, the system provides a capacity of 35 MWp, which can supply approximately 10,000 households with green energy. This output is reportedly equivalent to the power consumption of about 100 Lowlands Festival weekends annually. The Solar Carport will be a fixture at this location.

The annual Lowlands Festival takes place at a fixed location in Biddinghuizen village, Netherlands. The organization has been working for years to make the festival more sustainable. Energy consumption remains a challenge here. Approximately 300,000 kWh of electricity is consumed per Lowlands edition. Generators currently generate almost all electricity. “With the construction of the Solar Carport, the festival is taking an enormous step towards sustainability,” said an official statement.

Official opening Solar Carport

Paul van Liempt moderated substantive discussions with leading figures within the energy transition at the opening, including Marjan Minnesma and Tim Verbruggen. Among the important topics discussed were the need for electrical-grid flexibility and the laws and regulations regarding sustainable solutions.

An area fund has been made available from the proceeds of Solar Carport Biddinghuizen for the local environment. Ton van Amerongen, an alderman of the municipality of Dronten, symbolically handed over a first check for €10,000 to energy cooperative BEN.

This ceremony was followed by comedian Dolf Jansen, an environmental activist himself, who festively opened the solar park with a message of hope.

Festive opening

Afterwards, visitors had the opportunity to network on the site, which had been revamped as a mini-festival site for the occasion. “From a temporary lookout tower, interested parties could see the magnificence of the world’s largest solar carport with their own eyes,” claimed the statement.

Eric van Eerdenburg, Lowlands Festival Director, said, “We are proud that this solar carport has been opened in collaboration with Solarfields after years of development. As a festival organization, we want to cultivate an optimistic vision of the future and play a role in solving climate problems. In this way, we hope to be a source of inspiration for our visitors to contribute – no matter how small – to making the world more sustainable.”

Niek Tamminga, Director Rooftop, said, “The realization of a colossal project like this is never without challenges. We are incredibly grateful for the support from governments, enabling us to realize this textbook example of multiple land use in cooperation with MOJO. We hope that it will inspire others to combine parking with sustainable energy generation in more places in The Netherlands.”