Ghent port gets Engie solar park

Energy company Engie has started constructing a solar park on its site in Rodenhuize, the peninsula in the port of Ghent that already houses three wind turbines and an ultra-fast charging station for EVs.

Starting this summer, the installation will produce about 5.7 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, enough for the average consumption of more than 1,600 families. The solar park will have 8,300 panels spread over a site of some 45,000 m².

Less CO2

The Engie project fits within the climate ambitions of North Sea Port and the city of Ghent, which are committed to renewable energy and reducing CO2 emissions in the port area.

The site in Rodenhuize is a former industrial zone unsuitable for construction or traditional economic activities due to soil pollution and spatial restrictions. Thus, it will get a new destination that contributes to energy transition.

Major transformation

To enhance local biodiversity, Engie is providing a bee hotel, a wooded wall that houses insects, birds, and small mammals, and flowery vegetation under and between the panels.

The site is also home to Max Green NV’s biomass plant, which Engie owns. That plant, with a capacity of 205 MW, long burned wood pellets to generate electricity. Those pellets came from North American and Siberian forests, among others, and may have been linked to illegal logging.

In 2023, it was shut down and has since served as a cold backup for the Kippegroen power plant on ArcelorMittal’s premises to continue burning blast furnace gas.