RWE is persistently expanding its solar portfolio by constructing a new photovoltaic (PV) plant with a capacity of 20 MWp (15.7 MWac) in the municipality of Bedburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Over 36,600 solar modules will generate sufficient green electricity to supply approximately 5,400 households.
Katja Wünschel, CEO of RWE Renewables Europe and Australia, expressed her delight in RWE’s contribution to the record expansion of renewables in Germany.
She stated, “The plant in Bedburg marks our seventh solar project initiated in the Rhenish lignite area, with most of them combined with storage facilities. In doing so, we are actively driving the energy transition in our home market of Germany. We plan to invest around €11 billion net in green generation capacity in Germany by 2030.”
Promoting renewable energy in the Rhine mining region
The new solar farm is under construction on recultivated land at the Garzweiler opencast mine, situated within 200 meters of the A44 motorway.
Construction has already commenced, and the new PV plant is anticipated to start supplying electricity by late summer. On the opposite side of the motorway, RWE has established its first agrivoltaics demonstration plant.
Furthermore, RWE currently operates three large PV storage power plants in the Rhenish mining area and is developing two additional solar projects with a combined capacity of over 51 MWp in the Hambach opencast mine—one of them featuring integrated battery storage. More PV projects are in the planning stage for the region.