The installation of 1,800 solar panels on the huge roof of the Kloosterboer Delta Terminal at Maasvlakte, which are now turning sunlight into power, not only makes the cold storage operation the largest photovoltaic (PV) plant in The Netherlands province of South Holland, but has made the facility nearly energy self-sufficient.
The system has capacity of 450 kWp, with an expected annual yield of 430,000 kWh. This corresponds to the annual energy consumption of 130 Dutch households, and a reduction of 140 tons of CO2 per year. The generated power is used almost entirely for the energy needs of the building and its associated refrigeration installations. At times when there is little or no demand for electricity by the coldstore, the power is delivered back to the grid, for which agreements have been made with Delta NV.
The solar panel system forms part of Kloosterboer’s ambition to establish and profile itself as an environmentally friendly, “sustainable” business. The company, which is affiliated with the Lean & Green organization, runs a wind turbine with a capacity of 4 MW in Vlissingen. Last October it became the first coldstore operator in The Netherlands to receive three-star BREEAM-NL new construction certification.
Completion of the solar panel installation is recognized as the next step in sustainability for temperature controlled logistics. Leo Euser, branch manager of Kloosterboer Delta Terminal, commented: “It is quite unique for a commercial company like ours to take on the full financing of such a large project by itself.”
Kloosterboer was guided through the entire process by Michiel van Beek of Solar Concept. He helped with evaluation of the business aspects, vendor selection, contract negotiation and engineering. Helmond-based Solarcentury Benelux installed the panels.
Founded in 1925 and currently employing more than 600 people, Ijmuiden-headquartered Kloosterboer is a family-owned company that operates subsidiaries specialized in warehousing, stevedoring, forwarding, shipping, customs and logistics IT. Its network offers over 3,000,000 million cubic meters of space and 500,000 tons of storage capacity spread across 15 locations in Europe and North America.
