Ask about the “Prologis method” within the organization, and you’ll soon hear the term “collaboration.” One example of such teamwork is a special project in the Netherlands’ Oosterhout district recently set up through a partnership, where 9,000 solar panels—with a surface area of 45,000 square meters—were installed on the roof of a new distribution center.
These solar panels generate 2.3 gigawatt hours of solar energy per calendar year. “That’s more than enough to provide 625 households with electricity,” Sander Griffioen, junior project manager Benelux with Prologis, explains with pride. The project was carried out by solar investor Sunrock, which previously worked with Prologis on similar projects in the districts of Venlo (14,352 solar panels, 58,800 square meters and 3.9 megawatts at peak generation) and Nieuwegein (5,337 solar panels, 19,300 square meters and 1.4 megawatts at peak generation).
Mutual Collaboration
“At Prologis, we work closely with our partners,” says Griffioen. “With this Oosterhout project, we provided the roofs, and Sunrock made the investment and installed the solar panels. It’s a smooth collaboration that also contributes to the energy transition taking place in the Netherlands.”
The Success of Partnerships
Sustainability is a high-priority concept at Prologis, and a prominent role is played by a delegation from the Benelux. Both Arthur van Kooij, VP head of project management Northern Europe at Prologis, and his right-hand man Griffioen are members of the Prologis European innovation group. “If we think something’s important for the company, then we do it,” explains Griffioen. “We don’t wait until we’re asked and strive to improve on a daily basis.”
Happy with Prologis
The Oosterhout District Council shares this sense of satisfaction. “In order to meet our sustainability targets, it’s absolutely necessary to install solar panels on the roofs of businesses,” says Marcel Willemsen, alderman for sustainability in the Oosterhout district. “So we’re happy that Prologis is installing solar panels on the largest continuous roof on a business in Oosterhout. For instance, in the Oosterhout district we’ve initiated the project Solar Panels on Business Roofs for which 20 businesses have already registered. We’ve now made a good start on benefiting from solar energy.”
The installation of 9,000 solar panels in Oosterhout is part of Prologis’ greater ambition to significantly increase the number of roofs of distribution centers in the Benelux that are fitted with solar panels. For more information, please contact Sander Griffioen: [email protected].