Almere Sun Island, the fourth largest solar collector field in the world

Almere: For the first time, homes in the Netherlands are to be heated collectively with locally-generated solar energy. The solar island is in keeping with the urban planning for the residential area and will become an icon in the Almere landscape. The way the island works is simple: water in the solar collectors is heated by the sun’s rays. The heated water will then be pumped directly into the district heating network that will supply heating and hot tap water to the new residential area Noorderplassen-West. With a collector area of around 7,000 m2 the Sun Island will be the fourth largest solar collector field in the world.

The project is in keeping with the energy suppliers intention to make its energy supply innovative and sustainable. The solar island will supply 9.750 Gigajoules of sustainable energy annually. That is 10% of the district’s annual heating needs and equates to the energy used by taking a million showers. The remaining heat requirements will also be supplied by the energy supply company Nuon, using environmentally friendly residual heat from the nearby power plant in Almere.

In February 2008 Nuon and the municipality of Almere signed the contract to build Almere Sun Island. Construction started in September 2009. Completion is planned for the summer of 2010 and heat 2700 homes.

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