RWE plugs in 6.1-MWp floating PV plant in the Netherlands

German energy group RWE AG (ETR:RWE) has put into operation a 6.1-MWp floating photovoltaic (PV) system near a biomass and coal-fired power plant in the south of the Netherlands.

The plant, RWE's first floating solar project, consists of about 13,400 solar panels installed on a lake near the Amer power plant in Geertruidenberg that was once used for cooling water.

The panels are connected through 25 km of cable and anchored to 52 concrete blocks sunk onto the bottom of the lake to prevent them from drifting away, RWE said on Friday.

The electricity from the floating plant is fed into the power station's grid.

The project is the latest of three solar installations at RWE's Amer power plant which runs 80% on biomass and 20% on coal and has a net output of 600 MW of electricity and 350 MW of heat.

In 2018, more than 2,000 PV panels with a combined capacity of 0.5 MWp were set up on the roof of the power plant. This was followed by ground-mounted PV installations with 5,760 panels which went online last summer.

The commissioning of the floating project has raised the total capacity of Solar Park Amer to 9 MWp which corresponds to the power consumption of 2,300 average Dutch households.

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