Largest solar farm Eneco powers KPN network

Solar farm Kabeljauwbeek – Eneco’s largest – is now operational, after the energy company completed the final stages of construction and testing late last year. The electricity produced by the solar farm from 1 January forward is used by KPN to power its networks, including its fiber network and its mobile 5G network. Situated in the municipality of Woensdrecht in the province of Noord-Brabant, the Kabeljauwbeek solar farm has been built around the wind farm with the same name.

Work began in February of last year. Since then, some 88,000 solar panels have been installed southwest of the village of Ossendrecht. The farm, lying between the A4 motorway, the Schelde-Rijnkanaal canal and the Belgian border, became operational just before the turn of the year.

Eneco’s first site to feature both a solar farm and a wind farm, Kabeljauwbeek makes optimal use of the available space and the existing connection to the electrical grid. As wind and sun generally do not occur in large amounts at the same time, this set-up makes better use of the electrical connection and creates more moments when Eneco can supply sustainable electricity.

KPN uses the solar farm’s electricity for its fixed and mobile networks, drawing around 47 gigawatt hours of green solar electricity per year. KPN previously signed a contract with Eneco for electricity from the Ecowende wind farm. Once the realisation of Ecowende is complete, starting in 2027 approximately two thirds of KPN’s electricity will come from sustainable assets.