Floating Solar Powers Largest Belgian Cement Plant

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

Summary

One of Europe's biggest floating solar power projects has been commissioned in Belgium to help decarbonise one of its largest cement plants.

Floating solar power projects continue to gain traction in Europe with Swiss building materials major Holcim commissioning a 31-megawatt (MW) floating solar installation in Obourg, Belgium, to power its cement production plant. 

Cement Going Green

Situated on a former chalk quarry site that has been rehabilitated into a lake, the plant will produce 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year of renewable electricity, all of which will be consumed by Holcim's industrial facilities, making it the largest floating solar power plant in Europe dedicated to self-consumption. Boasting 55,000 panels supplied by TotalEnergies, the floating island is stabilised using 128 anchors and will be able to supply 15% of the plant's power needs. "On sunny days, we will be self-sufficient," stated Vincent Michel, director of the company's Go4Zero programme.

Go4Zero

The Obourg site is one of the largest cement plants in Europe and supplies around a quarter of Belgium's cement. It is also one of the country's largest emitters of CO2, and to address this the Go4Zero plan was put in motion. The floating solar power project is a small step towards Holcim's bigger goal of achieving carbon neutrality in Belgium by the end of the decade. Holcim will deploy an air-oxyfuel switchable kiln with carbon purification technology at Obourg, where captured CO2 will then be sequestered under the North Sea. The project originally aimed to be operational by 2029 and store around 1.1 million tons of CO2 per year but the start date has been pushed back to 2030-31. Michel told The Brussels Times recently that the final investment decision has been delayed because the risks are currently too high and that a decision now would be "pure suicide." The company cited uncertainties surrounding Belgium's CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. You can track the US$324 million project here.

European Floating Solar

Industrial Info has been tracking growing activity in the floating solar segment of the European renewables market. In recent weeks, Neoen has started work on the Matignicourt floating solar farm in La Marne, France. At the end of 2025, Industrial Info reported on the U.K. granting planning permission for the country's largest planned floating solar project, located at the Port of Barrow in Cumbria. The Barrow EnergyDock project will boast a 46,500-panel array capable of generating 32 MW of electricity, where it will supply power for local engineering companies including submarine contractor BAE Systems. 

Industrial Info also reported on plans for a much larger floating solar PV project in Slovenia. The Družmirje floating solar power plant, which will have a capacity of 140 MW, will be located on Lake Družmirje, near a former coal mine in the coal-mining Savinjsko-Šaleška (SAŠA) region. Europe's largest planned floating solar project, Hollandse Kust Zuid, is located in the sea off the Dutch coast and will be marginally larger than the Družmirje project at 150 MW. Industrial Info is tracking more than 50 projects in the pipeline worth US$1.7 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports. For additional information, see December 11, 2025, article - Green Light for U.K.'s Largest Floating Solar Project and October 21, 2025, article -  Slovenia's Major Floating Solar Project Advances.

Key Takeaways

• Holcim commissions a 31-megawatt (MW) floating solar installation in Obourg, Belgium, to power its cement production plant. 
• It will be capable of supplying 15% of the plant's annual power needs or "everything on a sunny day."
• The project is part of a much larger decarbonisation plan for the cement works called  Go4Zero.

IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resource's Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).