Rotterdam Zoo is at the forefront when it comes to sustainable innovation. The roof of Rotterdam Zoo’s Oceanium aquarium is lined with 3,400 solar panels that generate power for an average of 100 households, making the zoo the country’s largest urban solar power plant.
'Cool' penguins
The green power from the panels is also used to cool the penguin enclosure. The thousands of panels are real eye-catchers that also serve an educational purpose in addition to a practical one. At two specific spots in the zoo, visitors can learn more about the use of renewable energy.
Ocean water for the Oceanium aquarium
Rotterdam Zoo has struck a smart partnership with Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company. Maersk Line delivers clean seawater to the Oceanium aquarium. When several of Maersk’s container ships go out into the Atlantic to rinse their ballast tanks, they bring clean seawater back with them to Rotterdam. At their home port, the water is pumped across to the Haaibaai, a special water tanker owned by Rotterdam Zoo. The ocean water is subsequently transferred to storage tanks at the Oceanium aquarium through a pipeline from the Schie waterway.
