EnBW has started operations at two subsidy-free solar parks in Germany totalling 300MW.
The Alttrebbin and Gottesgabe solar farms each have around 150MW of capacity.
Together, with the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar farm, in operation since last year, the solar farms form a 500MW solar cluster east of Berlin.
EnBW solar projects head Thorsten Jörß said: “With the two solar parks, we are realising an expansion of more than 5% of the output of all photovoltaic projects implemented in Germany last year in one fell swoop.
“Ground-mounted systems such as these contribute significantly to a faster expansion of solar energy.”
At the Alttrebbin and Gottesgabe projects, EnBW is using battery storage systems for the first time.
Each has a capacity of 3.9MWh and are designed for winter days with low daylight, to cover the power requirements of running the associated substations and inverters during the night.
On sunny days solar energy can also be fed into the power grid through the storage system and the electricity can be made available on the market.