Solar panels in Parkstad municipalities

In the future, the solar panels will supply clean, reliable and affordable energy to cover the needs of all inhabitants and businesses in the region. The Parkstad Solar Panel Project is an important step forward. Apart from delivering a financial boon to the participating inhabitants and providing a boost to employment in the region, it also represents a major step towards sustainability.

How it all began

In 2014, the municipality of Landgraaf launched a scheme to fit solar panels to the roofs of 560 private homes in order to meet its public lighting power needs: 1.5 million kWh. The benefits of this calculation model were both energy and cost neutrality. To make this possible, the municipality took out a EUR 3 million loan from BNG Bank. Repayments and interest are funded by the fixed contributions of the participating inhabitants. They pay a fixed contribution over a 15-year period which, starting from the first year, has been lower than the savings on energy costs. Given the energy prices at the time of the scheme's launch, residents benefited right away, and if prices rose the benefit would only become greater. The loan will be repaid in 15 years and citizens will then derive maximum benefit, since the solar panels have a 25-year life cycle. BNG Bank advisers were involved in the risk analysis incorporated in the project plan.

Parkstad municipalities copy the idea

The concept has been borrowed by the seven other Parkstad municipalities. All eight municipalities have stated their joint ambition to become energy neutral by 2040. In order to achieve this aim, they have launched several projects, including the Parkstad Solar Panel Project. This represents an opportunity for 7,250 households, businesses and organisations with a small consumers' electricity connection of at most 3×80 ampere to invest in sustainability. The project is also open to tenants.

Driven by social impact

We are the bank for the Dutch public sector and we are driven by social impact. We aim to be a natural partner for our clients by helping them addressing the social challenges they have to cope with. Instead of maximising profits, our priority is to maximise the social impact of our activities.