Fluvius puts largest solar roof on grid at WDPort of Ghent in Evergem
In the North Sea port of Ghent, logistics real estate specialist WDP is building a gigantic solar roof with no fewer than 37 000 solar panels on 150 000 square meters: the largest solar field on a single roof in Europe. To properly feed the 25 megawatt peak of solar power into the grid, Fluvius is constructing a significant expansion of its medium-voltage network.
Energy transition: ever more green power
The solar panels will provide enough power to power 8 to 9,000 families. Part of the power generated will be used immediately on-site by WDP customers, the balance will end up on Fluvius' grids and with the many large consumers in the vicinity. This makes this solar panel installation on the roof of WDP's building an important new source of renewable energy for Ghent port.
"So it's not just families investing massively in green power," says Glenn Denooze of Fluvius. "Companies have also been doing this for a long time. Because of the energy transition and the fickle gas prices, we see more and more similar cases popping up, especially in industrial areas and ports. The growing challenge for us is of course to find the right capacity each time to connect those installations to our grids. For this case, we found it on the 36-kilovolt network from the Ertvelde transformer station."
The 2.5-kilometer route runs through Ghent harbor in Pachtgoederen and via a directional drilling under railroad line 55 towards Christoffel Columbuslaan. As soon as the cable is connected to the customer cabin and the meter installation is inspected and calibrated, the new solar roof will be able to inject full power. There was no disruption to traffic during this work.
David Callens