Almere Sun Island

Since May 2010 Almere Sun Island has supplied heating and hot tap water to the new residential district Noorderplassen-West. The solar island is in keeping with the urban planning for the residential area and is an icon in the Almere landscape. The 520 solar collectors have a surface area of 7,000 m2, about one and a half football fields. It is one of the largest solar collector fields in the world.

How does it work?

The way the island works is simple:

• In the solar collectors on the island, water is heated by the sun’s rays.
• The heated water is pumped directly into the district heating network.
• The solar collectors and district heating together provide heating and hot tap water for the new residential area Noorderplassen-West.

One million showers a year

The project is in keeping with Nuon’s intention to make its energy supply innovative and sustainable. The solar island supplies 9.750 Gigajoules of sustainable energy annually. That is 10% of the annual heating needs of the 2,700 houses in the district, or the energy used by taking a million showers a year. Nuon provides the remaining heat using environmentally friendly residual heat from the nearby power plant in Almere.

More than 50% reduction in CO2 emissions

The solar collectors and district heating together reduce CO2 emissions by more than 50% compared to gas-fired heating. That is equivalent to driving 30 million fewer kilometres a year.