The Netherlands 113
Implementation risks related to ground- mounted parks for solar PV
Public resistance
Ground- mounted solar parks will, similarly to onshore wind turbines, have an
impact on landscapes as they require a significant piece of land and are often
clearly visible from long distances. In the Netherlands, spatial plans developed
by provinces and municipalities determine for what purposes land can be used.
This could give rise to social conflicts if a solar park is eligible for a certain area
according to the spatial planning but is not preferred for this area by the local
population.
Information evenings held for ground- mounted solar projects in the development phase showed that the main concern of the local population is where the
park is going to be located and how this relates to the location of people’s
houses. There is a preference for placing solar parks outside cities where they are
less clearly visible. This contradicts with, for instance, the regional regulations
in the Province of Fryslân where, according to spatial planning, groundmounted solar parks can only be installed near cities/villages and not in open
land (Gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân, 2015). The spatial departments of provinces
often oppose having solar parks in the countryside because, during the past 30
years, their primary task has been to protect the rural landscape. These contradictions between traditional spatial planning and people’s preferences regarding
location of ground- mounted solar parks could considerably delay the deployment of solar parks due to lack of acceptance (or even resistance) among the
local population.
Therefore, an important lesson from the stakeholder consultation for this
study is that it is important to engage the local population as soon as possible in
decision making on a ground- mounted solar park. This is important as a solar
park can, as explained above, affect the population in multiple ways, such as
visual pollution due to the significant change in the landscape, opportunity
costs as the land can no longer be used for other purposes for a long period of
time, and associated issues such as reduced job opportunities. Recently, in the
Netherlands, there have been cases where ground- mounted solar parks were
cancelled due to local resistance and in these cases the population, as an
important stakeholder, had only late in the process been consulted. Consulted
stakeholders for this study have therefore identified social resistance as a key
obstacle to scaling up solar PV through ground- mounted parks.
According to interviewed commercial parties, a way to lower public resistance against solar parks can be found in improvements in the design and
(spatial) planning structure. Currently, most project cases focus on cost optimisation as that is the key criterion for obtaining subsidies through the SDE+, so
that project developers have an incentive to choose relatively low- cost materials even if this has a less attractive design. Moreover, as explained previously,
solar parks in the Netherlands fit best in areas close to population centres as
using more remote, rural areas would require modification of spatial planning.
Implementation risks related to ground- mounted parks for solar PV
Public resistance
Ground- mounted solar parks will, similarly to onshore wind turbines, have an
impact on landscapes as they require a significant piece of land and are often
clearly visible from long distances. In the Netherlands, spatial plans developed
by provinces and municipalities determine for what purposes land can be used.
This could give rise to social conflicts if a solar park is eligible for a certain area
according to the spatial planning but is not preferred for this area by the local
population.
Information evenings held for ground- mounted solar projects in the development phase showed that the main concern of the local population is where the
park is going to be located and how this relates to the location of people’s
houses. There is a preference for placing solar parks outside cities where they are
less clearly visible. This contradicts with, for instance, the regional regulations
in the Province of Fryslân where, according to spatial planning, groundmounted solar parks can only be installed near cities/villages and not in open
land (Gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân, 2015). The spatial departments of provinces
often oppose having solar parks in the countryside because, during the past 30
years, their primary task has been to protect the rural landscape. These contradictions between traditional spatial planning and people’s preferences regarding
location of ground- mounted solar parks could considerably delay the deployment of solar parks due to lack of acceptance (or even resistance) among the
local population.
Therefore, an important lesson from the stakeholder consultation for this
study is that it is important to engage the local population as soon as possible in
decision making on a ground- mounted solar park. This is important as a solar
park can, as explained above, affect the population in multiple ways, such as
visual pollution due to the significant change in the landscape, opportunity
costs as the land can no longer be used for other purposes for a long period of
time, and associated issues such as reduced job opportunities. Recently, in the
Netherlands, there have been cases where ground- mounted solar parks were
cancelled due to local resistance and in these cases the population, as an
important stakeholder, had only late in the process been consulted. Consulted
stakeholders for this study have therefore identified social resistance as a key
obstacle to scaling up solar PV through ground- mounted parks.
According to interviewed commercial parties, a way to lower public resistance against solar parks can be found in improvements in the design and
(spatial) planning structure. Currently, most project cases focus on cost optimisation as that is the key criterion for obtaining subsidies through the SDE+, so
that project developers have an incentive to choose relatively low- cost materials even if this has a less attractive design. Moreover, as explained previously,
solar parks in the Netherlands fit best in areas close to population centres as
using more remote, rural areas would require modification of spatial planning.