Solar park Leek opened in a special way

In the presence of neighbours, project developers Chint Solar and PowerField and other involved parties, Alderman Hielke Westra of the Westerkwartier municipality opened Zonnepark Leek in a special way: he released the sheep that will maintain the grass on the solar park in a natural way. Since the end of 2021, the solar field has provided approximately 9,000 households with sustainable energy and therefore makes an important contribution to the sustainability ambitions of the Westerkwartier municipality.

Alderman Hielke Westra opens Solar Park Leek

The well-attended festive opening was organized by Chint Solar and PowerField, who were responsible for the development and realization of the solar park. Before the opening, the ‘neighbours’ and the companies in the nearby business park were invited. They were given the opportunity to take a closer look at the solar park and to ask their questions to the experts present.

Alderman Hielke Westra of the municipality of Westerkwartier performed the symbolic opening by releasing the sheep. The grass on the solar park is naturally maintained by a grazing flock of sheep; a process that requires almost no machine.

Zonnepark Leek is located north of the highway A7, near Leek and Tolbert. It was realized on land that had been reserved by the municipality for the expansion of the Leeksterveld business park. Almost 53,000 solar panels have been installed on the approximately 22 hectares of land. The 28.6 MWp solar park provides approximately 9,000 households with green electricity. The project has been supplying green energy since the end of 2021, but an official opening was postponed due to the corona pandemic. The solar park is owned by Blue Elephant Energy.

Alderman Hielke Westra of the municipality of Westerkwartier: “Developing this solar park has taken a number of years and is now ready. It provides sustainably produced electricity for 9,000 households and thus makes a major contribution to the energy transition in the municipality of Westerkwartier. We hope that this project will have a flywheel effect for the further sustainability of the Leeksterveld industrial estate and the rest of the Westerkwartier municipality.”

Jean-Louis Bertholet, CEO of PowerField: “We are proud to have realized this solar park together with all parties involved. Sustainability is an important spearhead in the municipality of Westerkwartier; together we have come up with a great project that contributes to the sustainable goals of the municipality of reducing CO2 emissions by half by 2030. And in this way we are making great strides in the energy transition in the Netherlands.”

Mark van Rij, Head of Business Netherlands at Chint Solar: “It is a great pleasure to open the solar park together with PowerField, our ‘neighbours’ and the municipality. You can see among those present that sustainable energy is living. And that’s a good thing, because we realize the energy transition together. We are therefore extremely proud that we have been able to contribute to the realization of the solar park together with all those involved.”