Solar parks often built on former farmland; vast majority remains unaffected

The majority of solar parks in the Netherlands are built on former agricultural land. However, the generation of solar energy only uses a relatively small proportion of land previously allocated for agriculture, as demonstrated by research from the Kadaster, the Netherlands' Land Registry.

In recent years, many areas in the Netherlands have been populated with solar panels, providing sustainable electricity. These installations are primarily located along railways and highways or on the outskirts of urban areas. The total area of these solar parks is now 3621 hectares, approximately equivalent to the size of the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul in Limburg.

Research shows that 60 percent of the land on which solar parks have been constructed was still used for agriculture five years ago. Slightly less than a quarter was designated as “other green areas,” which includes fields, roadside green strips, or sandy plains, as explained by the Kadaster.

While agricultural land is relatively often used for the installation of solar panels, it constitutes only a small fraction of the total agricultural areas. The Kadaster calculated that the Netherlands has 1.8 million hectares of agricultural land, with only 0.12 percent used for solar parks over the past five years. In provinces like Groningen and Drenthe, this figure is about 0.25 percent. These provinces, with Groningen leading, have the highest number of solar parks. Conversely, provinces such as Zuid-Holland and Noord-Brabant have used less agricultural land for this purpose than the national average.

In the water-rich Netherlands, 4 percent of solar parks are located on water or in places where water used to be. Sometimes, for example, a pond is drained to install solar panels. However, in various locations, solar panels are also placed on floating platforms on the water. An example of such a floating solar park can be found on the Bomhofsplas in Zwolle, which is also used for sand extraction.

Forests are rarely cleared for solar panels: only 1 percent of the total solar parks are built on former forest areas. For 3 percent of the parks, the researchers were unable to precisely identify the terrain.

The installation of solar panels on agricultural land is controversial. The farmers’ political party BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), among others, has been critical of this practice, and LTO Nederland, the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture, has repeatedly stated that agricultural land should not be covered with solar panels. Current government policy also prefers other options.

Agriculture and solar energy can also coexist. There are various pilot projects in the Netherlands where strawberries, raspberries, or asparagus are cultivated under solar panels.