After a pilot project, ASTER cv will start the largest solar panel project ever in Flanders in September: the installation of installations on 50,000 social housing units. This will give some 150,000 residents of social housing access to solar energy produced on their own roofs. Ingenium is closely involved in this project and is assisting ASTER as a consultant on numerous technical issues both during the design, the competition, the technical due diligence and during further development.
The social housing companies in Flanders have enormous solar potential: solar panels could be installed on more than 58,000 buildings with over 90,000 homes. There were several reasons why this hardly ever happened. For example, social tenants cannot invest in solar panels themselves because the roof is not their property. Then again, in the past, social housing companies did not have the legal ability to pass on the investment cost to the social tenants who benefit from the solar power.
This is why the social housing sector set up the cooperative company ASTER in late 2020 with the support of the European Investment Bank. "With ASTER, as social housing companies, we want to aim for lower energy bills for our social tenants and make a significant contribution to a better climate in Flanders. ASTER wants to relieve the housing companies, and in the future the housing companies, of a maximum burden in the installation, management and maintenance of solar panel installations on social housing," says Etienne Audenaert, president of ASTER cv and director of WoonAnker Waas.
The creation of ASTER cv was made possible through the close cooperation of several experts, energy broker Enbro, Ingenium, financial consultancy Rebel Advisory and lawyers Equator and Eubelius, and coordinated by the Association of Flemish Housing Companies (VVH).
The elimination of the rollback counter necessitated a thorough readjustment of ASTER's payback model and delayed the large-scale rollout. This summer, the installation has now really taken off. After pilot installations on some 30 homes in Temse and Herentals were installed and operational processes tested in August, EnergyVision will install nearly 400,000 solar panels on the roofs of more than 50,000 social housing units over the next 4 years. This investment of 150 million euros can be expanded to a maximum of 400 million euros within the current tender, accounting for 1 million solar panels by mid-2026.
With rising energy prices, energy poverty is looming in Flanders. ASTER's financial model, however, puts social tenants first. "With ASTER, we succeed in providing the 50,000 social housing units of the first phase with solar power that is 25 to 30 percent cheaper than the current social daily rate, and up to 40 percent cheaper than commercial electricity rates," says Sven Van Elst, ASTER's general director. The ASTER model operates independently of subsidies and green certificates.
However, solar installations are not possible on all 170,000 social housing units in Flanders. Sometimes high-rise buildings stand in the way, there are technical obstacles, or the roof is not optimally oriented. Together with ASTER, Ingenium is investigating the possibilities to give all social tenants the opportunity to enjoy cheap Flemish solar power via energy-sharing.
Want to know more about our role in this project? Contact Hannes Stubbe at 050 40 45 30 or hannes.stubbe@ingenium.be.
About energy sharing, this news item appeared earlier.
