Over 2,000 solar panels are being installed at the STIB's Jacques Brel and Schaerbeek depots, the public transport company announced on Thursday.
Their commissioning is scheduled for July. The STIB is gradually installing this type of equipment on the roofs of its sites. Panels are already in service at the Ixelles and Marconi depots.
The Jacques Brel site will accommodate 1,959 panels, covering an area of 3,354 m². Their electricity production is estimated at between 527 and 577 MWh per year, or around 14% of the buildings' electricity needs.
The Schaerbeek site will accommodate 120 panels on a surface area of 205 m². The estimated electricity production is 32 to 35 MWh per year, i.e. 9% of the depot's electricity needs.
Once these new installations are commissioned, STIB will have 5,486 solar panels for all its sites, producing between 1,407 and 1,539 MWh per year.
This renewable energy production will make it possible to save between 261 and 286 tonnes of CO2 per year, thus contributing to STIB's carbon strategy and its objective of reducing gas emissions.
“The STIB’s environmental objectives not only translate into the purchase of hybrid or electric vehicles. We also want to valorise our energy-producing sources and focus even more on renewable energy,” said STIB CEO Brieuc de Meeûs.
“The installation of solar panels responds to this objective, which is all the more important with the increase in electricity consumption that we expect as a result of the gradual evolution towards an electric bus fleet,” he said.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
