Sunrock and intospace® deliver the successful solar energy project in Utrecht for tenants Albert Heijn, Hema and Ampère

Photo © John Gundlach | Flying Holland

Sunrock and intospace® deliver the successful solar energy project in Utrecht for tenants Albert Heijn, Hema and Ampère

Utrecht, Oct. 2, 2023 – Sunrock and intospace®, respectively leading solar energy company and logistics real estate developer, are delivering the successful solar energy project at Kanaaldijk 3-7 in Utrecht. The UTR06 project in the Lage Weide business park marks the first successful project within the strategic partnership between the two parties, with many more projects to follow. Tenants Albert Heijn, HEMA, and Ampère (part of Bol.com) use the locally generated sustainable energy at a competitive rate.

The partnership with Sunrock aligns with intospace®’s vision to give logistics buildings a prominent role in the energy transition, at a time when grid congestion is an increasingly familiar problem. Intospace® equips its buildings with smart energy management systems. This makes this project on the Kanaaldijk in Utrecht, among others, an energy-positive building because it generates more energy than it uses. Sunrock designed, built and operates the PV system, while intospace® has complete control over what happens to the power produced and to whom it is supplied. Thus, most of the power generated from the roof is purchased directly by the three tenants on site to make their operations more sustainable. The remainder of the generated energy will be delivered back to the grid, providing households with clean energy.

UTR06 as an energy hub

The project consists of three buildings, with 13,892 solar panels on them, and totals 6.39 MWp (megawatts of power), equivalent to about 2,400 households that can be supplied with power.

Henk Snijders, Head of Logistics at Hema: “At HEMA, we strive to have a positive impact on society and the environment. With the installation of solar panels on our roof and their use in our own distribution center, we are providing our daily operations with clean, locally generated energy. Thus, we are continuously looking for solutions to further increase sustainability.”

Allard Steenbeek, Development Manager & Sustainability Lead at Albert Heijn: “This solar roof brings us another step closer to emission-free provisioning. This fits in line with our ambition on sustainability”.

Wouter Barkman, CEO at Ampère: “Ampère is a start-up that collects packages as sustainably as possible. We combine smart technology with sustainable transport. With the construction of the solar panels, we can generate the energy we need for our processes and the charging of our electric vehicles ourselves. With this, we reduce Ampere’s impact and become ever so slightly more sustainable.”

Future projects Sunrock and intospace®

Intospace® and Sunrock are working together to provide some 170,000 square meters of solar roofs by 2023. That amount of solar panels will generate an annual production of about 18 gigawatt hours of clean energy, equal to the consumption of about 7,200 households.

Intospace®: driven by the environment

As a logistics real estate developer, Intospace® firmly believes in developing for future generations. Aware of the opportunities to leave the world a better place, Intospace® has a unique approach to the sustainable development of future-proof distribution centers. Intospace® designs innovative energy solutions, including self-sufficient- and even off-grid logistics warehouses. Intospace® creates energy-neutral and energy-positive logistics real estate (with a total of approximately 1 million m2 of solar panels), taking into account the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of “affordable and clean energy.

About Sunrock

Sunrock works with European companies, organizations and governments to create a customized energy strategy. From solar systems to smart batteries and from asset management to clear dashboards. Sunrock takes care of everything; feasibility studies, grant applications, financing and insurance. From the operation and management of solar parks to harnessing the clean energy generated there. Since 2020, Sunrock has been part of COFRA Holding and has grown to more than 120 employees in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France.