A floating PV project of 96 MW will be built on a dredged depot in the port of Rotterdam. The array will not supply energy to the electricity grid, but will serve local businesses. It is scheduled for operations in 2027.
Work is underway to progress a large-scale floating solar energy project in the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The project will be built at the De Slufter dredging depot, where contaminated dredged material is stored, located on the Maasvlakte, an artificial extension of the Europoort in Rotterdam.
Plans for a 100 MW project at the site were first drawn up 2019. In March 2025, Sun Float Power, consisting of a consortium of Dutch companies DevCap Infra BV and Solinoor BV and Germany’s Enerparc AG, was selected to develop, build and operate a 96 MW array, covering approximately 80 hectares of water surface.
The project is expected to generate approximately 87 GWh of energy annually, equivalent to the consumption of 30,000 households. It is part of the Dutch government’s national National Real Estate Energy Generation program, aimed at using government land for clean energy projects.
Sun Float Power is organizing a walk-in meeting at the De Slufter office on March 10, where the public will have the opportunity to learn more about the plan.
Due to congestion on the electricity grid in the area, the energy from the PV installation is not supplied to the electricity grid, but directly to surrounding companies. “This creates local added value and the solar park will not place an additional burden on the electricity grid,” according to a statement on the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s website.
The port’s website states that the Slufter dredging depot is almost completely hidden from view by a ring dike, making the floating solar park barely visible from the area.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Once operational, the location will be one of the largest floating solar systems in Europe. The largest completed floating array currently is a 74.3 MW project inaugurated in France last June. The largest in development is a 140 MW in Slovenia, with construction expected to start before the end of this year.
Research by Wood Mackenzie shows that the Netherlands could deploy 1 GW floating solar energy by 2033. The analysts said they expect global floating PV capacity to reach 77 GW in the same year, led by India, China and Indonesia.
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