Sustainable Prysmian P-Laser cables for largest solar carport in the world

However, the Prysmian P-Laser cables can handle that overload and peaks just fine. That is why Solarfields B.V. is using no less than 137 km of this high-quality and environmentally friendly energy cable in two projects in the Flevopolder, including the largest solar carport in the world. Also, pop festival Lowlands will never be the same again. At least as far as parking is concerned. The parking lots of Mojo's event location in Biddinghuizen will be covered with 90,000 solar panels. These so-called bifacial solar panels convert sunlight reflected directly and through the ground into electricity. With its 35 hectares of surface area, the world's largest solar carport will generate around 35 GWh annually with the help of 180 inverters and five transformers. Enough to power 10,000 households for a year or power 100 weekend festivals without diesel generators (off-grid).
 

Mega projects

The solar park is a unique example of multiple land use, where parking, sustainable energy generation and comfort (shade for 15,000 parked cars) are combined. Equally impressive is the second solar park that Solarfields is realizing simultaneously a few kilometers away, in the Dorhout Mees recreation area. With its 337,000 panels and 147 MWp of capacity, this is the largest solar park in the Netherlands.
 

Total provider

Solarfields is a producer of renewable energy. It develops and realizes large-scale solar projects on land, roof and water. Solarfields controls the entire process from design, permits and construction to financing, operation and maintenance and works together with permanent construction partner IB Vogt.

Conditions

Solarfields itself had approached Mojo to use the parking lot in Biddinghuizen, which is empty for a large part of the year, for sustainable energy generation. "The condition was that the function remained unchanged and not too many parking spaces would disappear," says Sr. Grid Specialist Wannes Deville. "And because it is public land, there are stricter requirements in terms of safety, construction and the electrical installation."

Permit

Solarfields usually develops its projects in the Netherlands in close consultation with the grid operator. "If you want to get a permit, you have to guarantee how you can feed the power into the electricity grid; Then it is easier to connect to the electricity grid of a regional grid operator. However, Liander's network was already full," says Deville. Solarfields found an alternative in the Closed Distribution System (GDS) of Windnet Oost-Flevoland. Windnet Oost Flevoland has received an exemption from the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) to realise and operate an electricity grid and to feed the power directly into TenneT's high-voltage grid. In addition to four wind farms and a battery park, the two solar parks of Solarfields are now also connected to this GDS. 

Double power

Windnet Oost Flevoland wants to make the best possible use of the connections to the TenneT grid. The advantage of a GDS is that wind, solar and storage are easier to combine. "Solar and wind profiles usually do not coincide: with a lot of sun, there is usually little wind, and vice versa," says Deville. As a result, the GDS can use almost twice as much power on one connection with the same connection capacity. Something that does not often happen with regular network operators.

Cable choice

IBVogt is laying most of the internal park cabling of the two solar parks, while Engie Infra & Mobility is taking care of the cabling between the purchasing stations of the two parks and the GDS. Wannes Deville determined which energy cables Engie should use for this. "Because of our previous good experiences with Prysmian and P-Laser, I awarded them the cable procurement and delivery. The cooperation and delivery had gone very smoothly then. Moreover, if you can meet the same specifications with a sustainable product like P-Laser, why not?"
 

Grid

The energy network of the two solar parks is extensive. The distance between the 150 kV substation of Windnet Oost Flevoland and the 23 kV collector station of the solar carport is approximately 18 km; the distance between the same substation and the three 23 kV collector stations of Dorhout Mees is approximately 9.5 km. To bridge these transport distances, Solarfields decided to combine the cables into one cable bundle of three cables for the solar carport and three cable bundles for Dorhout Mees.

Temperature load

Prysmian supported Solarfields and Engie in engineering, making the cable calculations and dimensioning the right P-Laser cable, taking into account aspects such as the type of earth screen and the heat specifications. P-Laser cables are more demanding due to their 20 percent higher temperature resistance than traditional XLPE cables. Because of this longer range, they have more capacity and there is less risk of overload. "With this cable, we can push the edge of energy transport," says Deville. The required 137 km 1x800 P-Laser cable has a fixed aluminum conductor and is safe, has minimal resistance losses and is suitable for the 30 MVA connection of the solar carport and the 95 MVA connection of Dorhout Mees."

Collaboration

Deville is very satisfied with the P-Laser cables and the collaboration with Prysmian. "The cables went into the ground smoothly and undamaged and were delivered as agreed. In addition, Prysmian was very flexible and cooperative in producing and supplying the cables. When the schedule shifted, Prysmian moved with it, even though the reels were already ready. This willingness to follow our routing makes the collaboration very pleasant from a practical and operational point of view. I know what I can expect from Prysmian and that gives me confidence."