RWE has commissioned several large-scale solar farms along the A44n motorway in North Rhine-Westphalia with a total installed capacity of 86 megawatts peak.
The plants comprise about 141,000 solar modules that will supply electricity for the equivalent of 27,700 German households, according to RWE.
The sites lie on recultivated land at the Garzweiler opencast mine to the west and east of the motorway between Bedburg and Juchen, RWE added.
Katja Wunschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia, said: “The commissioning of the solar farms alongside the motorway shows that we are consistently driving forward the expansion of our solar portfolio.”
She added: “And we aren’t done there yet. Next year, we will add several thousand solar modules to the project. With wind and solar systems side by side, we are building a renewable energy road on recultivated land along the A44n motorway as a blueprint for further projects in the region.”
Implementation of the second stage with 19.9 megawattspeak is planned for next year and will see more than 30,600 additional modules installed on recultivated land in the municipal area of Juchen, with commissioning scheduled for the end of 2026.
RWE is also constructing the Bedburg 3 wind farm with nine turbines and around 60 megawatts of capacity close to the A44n solar sites.
Dr Lars Kulik, CTO lignite at RWE Power, stated: “The solar and wind projects on recultivated land along the A44n emphasise that structural change and the expansion of renewables in the Rhenish lignite area are going hand in hand.”
He said: “There is plenty of space in and around our opencast mines that we are also using for renewables projects. In addition, the employees of RWE Power contribute their knowledge and experience to support the construction and subsequent operation of the solar and wind farms.”
RWE now operates nine solar projects in the Rhenish region, four with integrated battery storage units, and is planning further sites including the Manheimer Bucht solar farm, which will have 17.2 megawatts peak following completion at the end of 2026.