RWE to provide solar energy generated at German coal mine

• Beginning of building for ingenious mix of 26,500 modules and also battery storage space
• Solar plant to run from 2022 up until completion of Lake Inde

In only a few weeks' time, RWE's Inden Opencast Mine will no longer produce simply lignite, but additionally solar power. After officially beginning, building work has actually commenced for a utility-scale photovoltaics system with incorporated battery storage.

The solar modules will certainly create an optimal electrical result of 14.4 megawatts (MW). The "RWE indeland Solarpark" is the initial of its kind in Europe and combines around 26,500 solar modules and also a battery storage system. The plant is expected to be commissioned by late summer season this year.

The plant is named after the Inden opencast mining region where it lies, in the area of Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia. Lignite mining will certainly finish in seven years as well as leave a comprehensive lake-- the centre of a significantly altering landscape. Area Administrator Wolfgang Spelthahn, Mayor Stefan Pfennings and indeland Taking care of Director Jens Bröker all work very closely with RWE on forming the future of this location. Together with RWE Renewables CEO Onshore Wind and Solar Katja Wünschel and also RWE Power CTO Dr Lars Kulik, they officially introduced the construction help the plant.

The solar modules will certainly be set up in two 1.4-kilometre-long and also 100-metre-wide rows on a gravelled surface at the western edge of the opencast mine. After the end of mining procedures in 2029, the location will certainly go to the edge of the lake. However, it will certainly take 20 years prior to water reaches this area-- leading the way for the delivery of this innovative big range solar farm with battery storage.

The battery storage space system is developed for a two-hour charging as well as supply cycle of 9.6 megawatt hrs, functioning as a barrier in between generation and also grid. In this way, feed-in can be even better customized to fulfill demand.

Katja Wünschel, CEO Onshore Wind and Solar Europe & Australia at RWE Renewables: "We are investing 11 million euros in our new project at the Inden opencast mine. This makes RWE indeland solar farm the next building block of a climate-friendly and more import-independent power production."

RWE is intending to develop at the very least 500 megawatts of generation capacity from renewable sources in the Rhenish lignite mining area alone. Katja Wünschel: "We are making North Rhine-Westphalia one of the centres in our technology and also development method. Below, we intend to carry out every wind and also solar project feasible and hence help to shape the massive improvement, specifically in the Rhenish mining area."

Dr Lars Kulik, CTO Lignite at RWE Power: "Energy transition and structural change in the Rhenish mining area are proceeding well with projects like the RWE indeland solar farm. There is lots of area for renewables facilities on the locations previously used for opencast mining-- the mining area will certainly hence remain an energy location in the future."

Alongside the new solar generation as well as storage project, RWE operates the indeland wind farms Eschweiler and also Fronhoven A; they are additionally joint projects with regional companions, as are the Königshovener Höhe and also Bedburg A 44n wind farms near the Garzweiler opencast mine. RWE currently runs or is presently building wind parks with a complete mounted capacity of around 200 MW in the Rhenish mining area. Further wind farm and also PV projects remain in planning, as an example in the Garzweiler opencast mine as well as its prompt neighbourhood.