ZONNECENTRALE LIMBURG

LRM owned the silt basin at Heusden-Zolder. In the time of coal exploitation, this area was used to deposit stone rubble and fly ash. The silt basis has a surface area of approximately 17 hectares and was cleaned up at the end of the 1990s. As the site was decontaminated using a cover sheet, it was extremely hard to find a suitable use for the site.

‘NV Zonnecentrale Limburg’, a trading partnership between LRM (owning 24.9% of the stock) and Group Machiels (75.1%), built the largest solar panel park in the Benelux area on the basis. The site, which was deemed unusable, has been given a renewed and sustainable purpose.

The total capacity of the power station at Heusden-Zolder is 4.7 MW, supplying sustainable energy through approximately 23,500 solar panels - enough for 1,300 households in Limburg.

Actively seeking out new investment opportunities has lead to several new projects realized in 2009. Solar power plants were built at Lommel and Maasmechelen, both in cooperation with Sibelco. Solar panels were also fitted on the roof of Machiels Building Solutions at the Kolenhaven in Beringen.

At the end of 2009, Zonnecentrale Limburg had a portfolio of approximately 10MW of solar panels connected to the grid.