Driving Force

DRIVING FORCE combines four major social challenges in Zwolle:

1. Efficient generating of renewable energy;

2. Water-peak storage upstream of the city as climate-oriented spatial adaptation;

3. Circular agriculture aimed at the production of biobased building and insulation materials;

4. Energy-saving heat / cooling systems for companies.

Polder Sekdoorn belongs to the original flood basins along the IJssel. The polder is enclosed by the Nieuwe Wetering on the north edge and the Soestwetering on the southern edge. Both watercourses transport a large part of the water from Salland via the city canal and the city center of Zwolle. Floodings in the city has put costly reinforcement of the regional water defenses on the agenda. As a much smarter alternative, we are realizing a huge water retention area in the polder Sekdoorn, This way dike reinforcement can largely be omitted.

The key factor is raising the waterlevel in the area, the use of floating solar panels on this water and the planning of fields of bulrush cultivation as protection and productive landscaping. Water provides cooling to the solar panels and thus greatly increases efficiency. The reflection of sunlight via the water also yields a much higher efficiency with the 'bifacial' solarpanels. Floating panels also enable a very flat arrangement with a minimum of wind catch, construction and landscape impact.

The central part of polder Sekdoorn is dominated by the high voltage power pylons. It is a junction in the electricity network. This landscape is already manifesting itself as an energy landscape. DRIVING FORCE is in line with this by developing the floating solar fields in this central section around the high voltage power lines. A broad hem of wet farming surrounds to the solar farms. Here, bulrush is grown. This hem ensures that the solar are barely visible from ground level. There are some directed exceptions to this. At specific places there are vistas on the largest solar farm landscape in Europe. For example, a view has been designed from the railway track, where the high-voltage cables cross the track. From the train, it offers an impressive panoramic view of this surreal landscape of solar fields.