Work starts on biggest solar farm in Benelux

Work has now begun on Kristal Solar Park in Lommel, Limburg. Benelux’s biggest solar farm was scheduled for completion in nine months. BCS Swinnen was subcontracted to build the facility and lay out the surrounding site by ENGIE Fabricom.

Solar energy for 24,000 households

Kristal Solar Park is an initiative of the Limburg investment company LRM, the town of Lommel and Nyrstar. It covers a 93ha site in Lommel’s Kristalpark business zone. The contract was awarded to ENGIE Fabricom as part of a competition between 30 candidates from across Europe. When complete it will be Benelux’s biggest solar park, with a surface area of 200 football fields, accommodating 300,000 solar panels and 2200km of cables. Annual production is expected to be 83 GWh. That covers the annual consumption of 24,000 households. The electricity generated will initially be consumed by the nearby Nyrstar zinc electrolysis plant.

Facility building and surrounding area

ENGIE Fabricom brought in BCS Swinnen for the construction of the facility building. This was designed by the architectural firm MINT in Lommel. The cabling enters through the basement, where the solar panel spare parts are also stored. The switchboard and transformer space is on the ground floor. The switchboard space will be partly glazed so that visitors can look in during guided tours. The control room and meeting rooms are on the upper floor. As for the solar panels, well they are on the roof.

As well as the building, BCS Swinnen will also lay out the surrounding area, including car parks equipped with electric charging stations. All told, a very sustainable project.