Dutch telecommunications giant KPN has entered a 15-year agreement with Eneco, a Dutch utility group, to procure electricity from a solar farm being developed in Woensdrecht, located in the province of Noord-Brabant. The collaboration was announced by both parties on Thursday.
The solar farm, comprising 88,000 panels, will be strategically positioned beneath the five wind turbines of the Kabeljauwbeek wind farm. Scheduled to commence operations at the outset of 2025, it is anticipated to supply KPN with over 47 GWh of electricity annually, catering to its fixed and mobile networks.
Additionally, as part of a prior power purchase agreement (PPA) with Eneco, KPN is set to receive in excess of 200 GWh of power per year from the Ecowende offshore wind farm starting from 2027. This wind farm is currently under construction off the Dutch coast near IJmuiden.
Eneco elaborated that both contracts incorporate a ‘pay as nominated' mechanism, ensuring that KPN's electricity procurement aligns with the generation output of both the solar and wind farms.
KPN's CEO, Joost Farwerck, underscored the significance of these agreements, stating, “From next year, a large part of our power needs will come from the new Kabeljauwbeek solar park. Two years later, we will add electricity from the Ecowende wind farm that is now being built. In three years' time, almost all our customers will be using the internet via a sustainable and efficient network that we feed with the right power at the right time, via energy from the sun and wind.”
