Haringvliet energy park is a hybrid energy park, integrating wind and solar plants and an energy storage unit into a single energy production site in the Netherlands. It is expected to be the largest hybrid renewable energy park in Europe.
The energy park will include a wind farm (22MW), a solar farm (38MW) and a 12MWh energy storage unit.
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Haringvliet energy park will have a total output of 60MW that is sufficient to power 40,000 Dutch households. It is estimated to offset 50,000t of CO₂.
The project is 100% owned by Vattenfall and is being developed with an investment of €61m ($66m). It was awarded a stimulation of sustainable energy production (SDE+) subsidy.
The project construction began in autumn 2019 and the energy park is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2020.
Haringvliet energy park location
Haringvliet energy park is located at Haringvliet in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands.
It is located in the north of Goeree-Overflakkee island between Middelharnis and Stad aan ‘t Haringvliet, near Rotterdam.
Haringvliet energy park make-up
The wind farm includes six N117/3675 wind turbines with a maximum turbine height of 150m each. The 3.6MW turbines will have a total capacity of 22MW and will supply sufficient energy to power approximately 27,000 households. Each turbine blade is 60m-long and weighs 12t.
The solar farm will comprise 124,000 solar panels with a total capacity of 38MW. It will be capable of supplying electricity to 12,000 households and will be Vattenfall’s largest solar installation to date.
The solar farm will also accommodate shipping containers with 244 batteries for the energy storage facility. Six of the containers will include the batteries, while six will include peripherals for the batteries such as inverters and transformers.
The batteries will be used for grid balancing purposes and can also serve as storage units in the future. To be manufactured by BMW, the batteries are also used in BMW i3 electric car.
A battery substation will connect all the systems and the entire energy storage system to the rest of the energy park.
Construction of Haringvliet energy park
The first stage of construction involved the installation of six wind turbines. The construction of the solar farm began after turbine installation.
The first windmill was installed in February 2020, while the last unit was installed in April 2020.
Driving of steel piles for foundations of the solar panels began in May 2020. The energy storage system will be transported from the factory to the construction site in summer 2020.
Benefits of hybrid energy systems
The hybrid energy project is more beneficial when compared to stand-alone wind farms or solar farms as it is more economical in terms of co-designing and sharing of infrastructure for generation, storage and grid connection. The integrated systems reduce the load on the grid in comparison with a single-generation facility.
As both wind and sun cannot be optimal at the same time, the required infrastructure does not need to be designed for maximum simultaneous generation from both wind and solar sources.
Contractors involved in Haringvliet hybrid energy park project
Alfen is responsible for supplying the energy storage system for the energy park.
EDS was contracted to provide expert consultancy to the battery system, while BAM Infra was contracted for the civil works, including cable laying and pipework for the wind farm.
Nordex Group was contracted to supply wind turbines for the project. The contract also includes a two-year premium service with an option to extend the duration by 23 years.
