Solar Carport Biddinghuizen was festively opened in the presence of influential decision-makers within the sustainability sector of the Netherlands. The 35-hectare Solar Carport was realized at the Lowlands Festival car park and is the largest solar carport in the world.

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 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. 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.

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, a fervent 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.

Solarfields

Solarfields is a producer of sustainable energy and realizes solar energy systems. The company is the market leader in large-scale ground-based solar parks. Solarfields 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.