The Netherlands water management agency plans to build three, 40km-long solar strips along the A37 motorway in the north of the country with a total generating capacity of 140MW.
Rijkswaterstaat will hold four “information evenings” with communities along the route in the province of Drenthe, hosted by local architect Studio Marco Vermeulen, website Renew Economy reports.
The project, which has yet to receive planning permission, would see solar strips installed along either side of the road and down the central reservation.
Altogether, 300ha would be covered.
The project is part of a larger plan being carried out by Rijkswaterstaat, along with the government’s Real Estate Agency and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to develop renewable energy on state-owned land.
Other schemes being considered include another solar-stripped road along the A58/A16 in the country’s south, and a 100MW onshore and offshore solar and wind farm in the southwest.
A number of pilot projects have already been carried out to fit main roads with noise barriers complete with photovoltaic panels. The first was built along a 400m stretch of the A50 in the centre of the country, was completed in early 2019.
Image: The A37 seen from the Erica viaduct (Onderwijsgek/CC BY 2.5nl)
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