From now on, this former pear orchard will make an important contribution to the ambition Wijk bij Duurstede climate neutral 2030.
In autumn 2021, we started the construction of the solar park on the Trechtweg in Cothen. In order not to disturb the resident little owl, the main work had to be completed before the breeding season. Partly because of the very bad weather in winter, this was not easy, but eventually the last panel was put in place in February.
Thanks partly to the exceptionally sunny summer, the solar farm produced about 12% more power than forecast. During 2022, the solar farm delivered 11 million kilowatt hours (11 GWh) of green power, much of which it supplied to EWEC members via OM New Energy. This corresponds to the average annual electricity consumption of 4400 households. For comparison: the municipality of Wijk bij Duurstede has about 9967 households (CBS 2011).
Unfortunately, every new installation also has teething problems, and so does the solar farm. One of the transformers stopped working several times, and we received feedback from local residents that the inverters could be heard from the garden on a quiet sunny day. We obviously don't want to cause any inconvenience, so this problem has been solved so that everyone can enjoy the sun in 2023 as well.
