Solar farms at wastewater treatment plants

Noorderzijlvest aims to be an energy-neutral water authority by 2025. We will construct solar parks on the sites of wastewater treatment plants. By generating our own sustainable energy, we will need to purchase less fossil fuel energy and will reduce our CO2 emissions.

Solar panels at 7 sites

  • At the wastewater treatment plants, we are dealing with continuous and high power consumption. A number of these plants have space to install solar panels on their own land, enabling them to generate a significant proportion of the energy they need on site in a sustainable manner. We have now installed solar panels at the Eelde, Feerwerd, Onderdendam, Wehe den Hoorn, Leek, Winsum, and Delfzijl wastewater treatment plants.
  • A new wastewater treatment plant will be built in Westerkwartier at the Gaarkeuken site in due course. This will replace the existing plants in Marum, Zuidhorn, and Gaarkeuken. Once this new treatment plant has been completed, solar panels will be installed there too.

There are now a total of approximately 4,000 solar panels at the seven sites mentioned, with a capacity of 1.7 MWp. They can generate approximately 1,500,000 kWh per year.

When the new Gaarkeuken wastewater treatment plant has solar panels too, they will supply approximately 12% of the energy consumed by the water authority .

Previous reports

Herman Beerda, executive board member, and Tjitse Mollema, sustainability advisor at the Noorderzijlvest Water Authority, symbolically commission the solar parks at the wastewater treatment plant in Eelde.
Herman Beerda, executive board member, and Tjitse Mollema, sustainability advisor at the Noorderzijlvest Water Authority, symbolically commission the solar parks at the wastewater treatment plant in Eelde.