In Heppignies, just a few minutes from Charleroi Airport, WDP is developing a major renewable energy project, a large-scale solar park with a capacity of 8.5 megawatt-peak, powered by 12,000 solar panels. This milestone initiative marks another step forward in WDP’s mission to make logistics real estate more sustainable across Europe.

Installing solar panels near an airport is no small feat. The risk of sunlight reflection must be carefully managed to ensure air traffic safety. That’s why WDP integrated reflection standards right from the design phase.

To meet these requirements, two innovative solutions were implemented:

• The orientation of the panels was precisely adjusted to limit glare.
• 40% of the panels were coated with a special anti-reflective film designed to prevent reflection.

For this project, around 5,000 panels are being fitted with an anti-reflective film developed by Phytonics, a German start-up and spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Heppignies is among the first large-scale reference projects in Europe to apply this cutting-edge technology. The film’s microscopic structures capture and diffuse sunlight, minimizing reflection while maintaining efficiency, ensuring safety for air traffic and surrounding areas.

Even with the anti-reflective coating, the impact on performance is minimal. A small UV-related loss is offset by the film’s enhanced light capture, resulting in negligible differences in annual energy yield and a major safety improvement.

The renewable energy generated at Heppignies, along with the new grid connection, will play a key role in the continued rollout of WDP’s sustainability strategy. This project supports both WDP and its customers in their shared goal: decarbonizing the supply chain.

At WDP, we believe that innovation and sustainability go hand in hand. The solar park in Heppignies stands as proof that the logistics of tomorrow can be not only efficient, but also future-proof and environmentally responsible.