The Weesow-Willmersdorf facility will generate 180 million kilowatt hours of electricity to power approximately 50,000 homes annually
Image: EnBW to build first major solar project without EEG funding. Photo: courtesy of PublicDomainPictures/Pixabay.
German public utility company EnBW has made a final investment decision to build 180MW Weesow-Willmersdorf solar park in Germany.
To be located near to Werneuchen in Brandenburg, the solar park will comprise of nearly 465,000 solar modules covering 164 hectares.
The facility will generate 180 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to power approximately 50,000 homes annually. It will also offset 129,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
The project is expected to come online by the end of next year.
EnBW said that the preliminary cable laying work for the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar park will begin early in 2020 in Werneuchen.
EnBW chief technical officer Hans-Josef Zimmer said: “The size of this solar park will give us a powerful boost in the expansion of our renewable energy portfolio. We are accelerating the expansion of solar energy and thus making it our third pillar.”
The company stated that it is developing a solar park without feed-in remuneration from the German Renewable Energies Act (EEG).
Zimmer said: “We are convinced that major solar parks of this size can be operated economically without funding.
“But only if the EEG continues to regulate: Renewables first!” The law stipulates that electricity from renewable energies has priority over other methods of generation when fed into the electricity grid.
“This and other regulations in the EEG need to be retained so that the investment in renewable energies continues to make economic sense in the future.”
EnBW will sell the electricity output generated from the solar park via the wholesale electricity market and its own customer portfolio.
EnBW acquired the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar project from Procon Solar in 2018
In mid-2018, the German public utility company had acquired the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar project from Procon Solar at a pre-developed stage.
As one of the largest energy supply companies in Germany, EnBW supplies electricity, gas, water and energy solutions and energy industry services to around 5.5 million customers.
In August, EnBW had completed the installation of 71 wind turbines for its Hohe See offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.