Large, abandoned industrial sites are typically best known for what they manufactured.
Years after manufacturing ceased, the roads, structures, and excavations may still exist at the former industrial locations.
Some remain largely unchanged. Others take on an entirely new purpose.
Near Obourg, Belgium, years of chalk extraction left behind a lake at the site of a former quarry.
The digging has stopped. The equipment has been removed. The water has remained.
Today, the same lake contains 55,000 floating solar panels and generates renewable electricity for a neighboring cement plant.
Electricity produced on the water is used directly by neighboring industrial operations.
The former quarry was already waiting for a new purpose
The quarry has supplied the raw material required in the building industry since it began operating as a quarry.
When the quarry operation ceased to exist, the site underwent remediation, and it was transformed into a lake.
Its industrial history helped create the conditions for what followed.
There are many solar projects that have space requirements of vast expanses of land.
This particular project was one of those options.
Earlier industrial activity created a sizeable body of water capable of accommodating thousands of solar panels. As a result, there was no need to expand into adjacent land.
Industrial sites began serving a different purpose
Instead of expanding the solar panel installation onto adjacent lands, the design took advantage of an existing industrial facility by creating a floating system.
The difference between the site’s industrial past and renewable-energy present becomes clear over time.
At present, the very same area currently hosts various forms of renewable energy generation equipment.
That same body of water eventually allowed for a new type of development.
The previous quarry site ultimately became the base for a floating solar array.
Very little of the electricity travels far from the lake
The floating solar installation was designed to supply power to nearby industrial operations.
Together, they provide 31 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity and generate approximately 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable electricity each year.
TotalEnergies reports that the installation is currently Europe’s largest floating solar power plant dedicated to self-consumption.
The electricity generated by the facility is self-consumed by Holcim’s operations.
At its maximum potential, this installation could supply up to fifteen percent (15%) of the annual electrical consumption required by Holcim’s GO4ZERO plant.
The power generated by the floating solar installation is consumed by Holcim’s cement production facility immediately adjacent to the lake.
As such, the electrical power generated does not travel long distances before it is utilized.
The solar panels continue to float atop the water, whereas the generated electricity is transmitted directly to Holcim’s cement producing facility via underground transmission lines.
Very little distance separates where the electricity is generated from where it is used.
Building on water avoided competing for valuable land
One key advantage to using a floating solar design is addressing a practical problem with traditional ground mounted solar systems.
Therefore, many sites suitable for solar installations compete for the limited available land.
The rehabilitated lake provided another option.
Through placement on water, this project increased local renewable electrical generation capabilities without requiring additional land use.
Another important consideration was connecting the floating system to pre-existing infrastructure.
To minimize surface disturbance, more than 700 meters (approximately 2,300 feet) of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) were performed.
This work connected the installation to the electric sub-station serving Holcim’s cement production facility.
Holcim reported that environmental concerns included both electrical connection and physical contact methods.
The solar panels were anchored to only the bottom of the lake, not to any portion of the lakeshore.
Construction activities were also scheduled around seasonal fish breeding periods.
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