De Watergroep, the largest autonomous water company in Flanders, aims to be energy-neutral by 2030, generating as much green energy on its own sites as it consumes. To achieve this, the company is looking into sustainable technologies, such as solar farms and wind turbines. In this regard, De Watergroep has appointed a consortium of BESIX Group, Perpetum Energy and Rebel Development to generate about 92 gigawatt hours by 2030. This corresponds to the consumption of 27,000 Flemish households and represents a reduction in CO2-emissions by 76.2 %.
The consortium's mission is to develop, build, finance and maintain renewable energy facilities at De Watergroep sites. De Watergroep will then purchase an amount of green energy equal to its total annual electricity consumption from the consortium through a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). This ensures that the renewable electricity will be sourced directly from plants situated on De Watergroep's premises.
In addition to the budget, added value in terms of stakeholder participation, citizen financing, sustainability, nature value creation, innovation and integration into the power grid were taken into account when awarding the contract. Most of the investment cost will be funded through crowdfunding and crowdlending, making this project one of the largest crowdfunding campaigns in Europe.
“We want to create a good level of support among all stakeholders. Besides ecological concerns such as nature conservation and biodiversity, local residents, (nature) associations and other stakeholders are also actively involved. By listening to what is going on in the local area, we try to tailor our projects as much as possible any local concerns as early as the design phase,” says said Ortwin Deroo, Business Development Manager at De Watergroep.
The chosen renewable energy technologies include a combination of wind turbines, floating and ground-mounted solar panels and battery storage solutions. De Watergroep owns 1,200 hectares of land and four large water-saving basins where these installations will be realised.
The projects will be 'nature-inclusive', featuring flower meadows and small landscape elements like dead hedges, amphibian pools and nesting areas. If floating solar parks are installed on the water-saving basins, breeding bird islands will also be created.
Permit applications for these renewable energy plants are expected to be submitted in 2025. The first plants are scheduled to be operational by 2026, providing green power to De Watergroep. The goal is to complete the full deployment of renewable energy installations by 2030.
Consortium
“At BESIX Group, we are honoured that De Watergroep selected us for this landmark project. Our proposal perfectly reflects our expertise in managing complex infrastructure projects, our commitment to sustainable solutions and BESIX Invest's extensive experience in finance packages for multi-faceted projects. We thank De Watergroep for its confidence in our company. BESIX's collaboration with Perpetum Energy NV, which provides solutions for electrical decarbonisation, and Rebel Development NV, which provides strategic advice and investment management, enabled us to successfully realise this project. We are excited to contribute to De Watergroep's goal of being energy-neutral by 2030,” said Pierre Sironval, CEO of BESIX Group.
“Projects like this align perfectly within Perpetum's mission to decarbonise both industry and society. Our expertise in the development and build of such complexes complements the expertises of the other partners in this sustainable project. We look forward to working with our partners and De Watergroep to realise this project in the best possible way,' adds Luc Leenknegt, CEO of Perpetum Energy Holding.
Jeroen in 't Veld, co-founder of Rebel, says he is proud of this great partnership with
De Watergroep: “Alongside Perpetum and BESIX, we hope to add real value to De Watergroep's sustainability objectives and believe the project's structure and the long-term collaboration offer a strong foundation for achieving this.”
Contact
Kathleen De Schepper - corporate spokesperson
0499 58 34 80 – kathleen.de.schepper@dewatergroep.be
Consortium partners
- BESIX Group, headquartered in Brussels, has been active since 1909 and has grown over the years into a multidisciplinary company with a leading position in the markets in which it operates: construction, real estate development and concessions. The Group operates in 25 countries on five continents. As a major player in the sector, BESIX Group aims to reduce its environmental footprint and help its customers reduce theirs through innovative solutions.
- PerPetum Energy, based in the Belgian communal Nazareth, has been developing renewable energy projects at home and abroad since 2007. The company has already completed quite a few multi-MW PV installations, both on land, rooftops and floating installations. Notable projects include the solar carports of Pairi Daiza and the Waasland Shopping Centre. In addition, they have already implemented wind farms.
- Rebel is a Rotterdam-based consultant and developer at the intersection of the public and private sectors. Rebel operates in the fields of energy transition, recycling, infrastructure, transport, energy, education and healthcare. Rebel has been involved in dozens of solar and wind farms in recent years; mostly as a consultant and increasingly as a developer.
About De Watergroep
De Watergroep is an independent Flemish water company offering products and services throughout the water chain. Through a network of more than 34,500 kilometres of water pipes, it delivers sustainable drinking water to 3.3 million customers in 177 municipalities spread over West and East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and Limburg. De Watergroep has 86 groundwater abstractions and five surface water abstractions, together accounting for drinking water production of 125 million cubic metres by 2023. Through Riopact the integrated water company is a partner for municipal wastewater and stormwater management. Subsidiary Azulatis offers innovative water-on-demand solutions from companies. Follow De Watergroep on LinkedIn and/or Facebook.