Dutch water company Evides Waterbedrijf decides to fully switch to renewable energy sources. To do this, it plans to install floating solar panels on 30% of its water reservoirs..

The first such power plant recently started operation near Rotterdam in the Kralingen water supply center. It is the largest floating solar power plant in Europe. It covers an area of \u200b\u200b10 thousand square meters, and its capacity is 1.6 megawatts.. This is enough to cover 30% of Kralingen's electricity needs..

The station consists of more than 4.5 thousand solar panels. It is equipped with sensors that track the necessary parameters, in particular, the angle of incidence of light and the strength of the wind.. With built-in motors, the power plant can independently change the position of its elements to generate electricity as efficiently as possible..

Over the coming years, specialists will observe how the quality of tap water will change due to the fact that a significant part of the reservoir was closed by a floating power plant.. If the test results are satisfactory, floating power plants will appear on other tanks..

The use of renewable energy sources is actively developing in the EU. In the first half of 2020, renewables generated more electricity than hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas, diesel or fuel oil).