August 28, 2025
The financial close of solar park Zuidvelde in the Province of Drenthe has been successfully completed. With this milestone, the full financing for the solar park is secured, and construction—already underway since July—can proceed expeditiously. The park is expected to start delivering green electricity by the end of 2025. With a capacity of 50 MWp, solar park Zuidvelde will generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 15,000 households. It’s local residents were involved in the development of the solar park, which has a focus on ecological value, landscape integration as well as social impact for the community.
The project is financed by ING and majority-owned by Blue Elephant Energy, with TPSolar responsible for its development, construction, and future operations. Solar park Zuidvelde is the largest of three projects, which the parties realize together as one portfolio. The two other projects are already in operation.
Green energy with attention to landscape and biodiversity
Solar park Zuidvelde makes a significant contribution to the municipality of Noordenveld’s ambition to become fully climate-neutral by 2040. What sets this solar park apart is its strong focus on ecological value, biodiversity and landscape integration. The design includes several kilometres of flowering field margins, beetle banks, and hedges.
A considerable part of the site will remain panel-free, and unusually wide open spaces—up to five meters between panel rows, roughly twice the standard—will be maintained throughout parts of the park. In addition, an open area equivalent to six football fields will be created between solar park Zuidvelde and a neighbouring solar park, specifically designed as a habitat for farmland birds such as partridges and skylarks. Projects of this ecological scale remain rare in the Netherlands.
Social value
Local residents have been closely involved in the development of the solar park from the very beginning. During multiple public consultations, they were invited to provide input on the location, design, and landscape integration.
In addition to this local engagement, the surrounding community will also benefit financially. A community fund is being set up to support local initiatives and strengthen the social impact of the project. Further opportunities for local financial participation, such as citizen bonds, are also being explored.
Collaboration
TPSolar, Managing Director, Martin Voigt:
“Despite the current challenges facing the solar energy sector, we show that in the right structure and with the right partners large solar parks can be realized in the Netherlands with care for nature and the local environment. With the project in Zuidvelde we are now realizing the biggest project in the history of our company and I am proud of our entire team, which made this milestone possible. We are very happy with the good and pragmatic cooperating we established with ING Bank and Blue Elephant Energy and I am looking forward to discuss further project with them in the future.”
ING, Head of Business Banking, Laurens de Vos:
“At ING, we believe in the transformative impact of clean energy solutions. Through initiatives like Project Zuidvelde—and two other similar projects—we aim to accelerate the energy transition, even in challenging times. We are proud to have successfully closed Project Zuidvelde in close partnership with family-owned TPSolar and investor Blue Elephant Energy. By enabling innovative projects like Zuidvelde, we’re committed to help drive clean energy solutions, reduce carbon emissions, and create tangible future-proof solutions for climate goals.”
Blue Elephant Energy, Chief Investment Officer, Tim Kallas:
“We are pleased to expand our Dutch portfolio to over 717 MWp with the successful financing of Zonnepark Zuidvelde. The transaction further strengthens our partnership with TPSolar and ING and marks the third project completed with this setup. It is a testament to our successful growth strategy and underlines our continued commitment to a greener future.”
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About TPSolar
We’re a family-owned company helping make the Netherlands sunnier through clean and affordable homegrown energy. How? By developing, building, financing, and managing ecological solar parks and energy storage systems. We never do this alone — always together with landowners, farmers, residents, governments, and local energy cooperatives.
Today, our ten solar parks in the Netherlands generate approximately 180 MWp, powering around 53,000 households with green electricity. That makes us optimistic — and just a little proud! More information: https://www.tpsolar.nl/.
About ING
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base that offers banking services through its operating company ING Bank. ING Bank’s goal is to enable people to stay one step ahead, both privately and professionally. ING Bank’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and corporate banking services to customers in more than 40 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (INGA NA, INGA.AS), the Brussels Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
Sustainability is an integral part of ING’s business strategy. This is reflected in the inclusion of ING shares in the FTSE4Good index and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Europe and World), in which ING is one of the leading companies in the banking sector. Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. This applies to both our customers and ING. We finance many sustainable activities, but we still finance more that are not. See the progress we are making at: ING and a sustainable society.
About Blue Elephant Energy
Blue Elephant Energy GmbH (BEE) develops, acquires, and operates solar and wind parks as well as battery storage systems (BESS) across eleven countries, with a strategic focus on Western and Central Europe and South America. Since its founding in 2016, BEE has built a renewable energy portfolio of approximately 1.7 GW. In 2024 alone, its assets avoided around 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and supplied clean electricity to nearly 700,000 households. In line with its ESG commitment, BEE actively supports local social initiatives — particularly in Chile and the Dominican Republic — and continues to expand its development pipeline of around 10 GW of solar, wind and BESS projects.