EnBW starts working on 187 MW unsubsidized PV plant in Germany

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From pv magazine Germany

EnBW started construction this week on the largest solar park to be built in Germany without public subsidies. The German utility did not hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the project, but the official starting signal has been given.

The 187 MW solar plant will be built on ​​164 hectares of land in Weesow-Willmersdorf in Brandenburg, about 25 kilometers from Berlin. The plant’s subsections will be brought online progressively, but the project will be fully operational this year, according to EnBW.

The subsidy-free project will be built under an in-house power purchase contract, but EnBW has yet to reveal the details of the arrangement. The company described the project as a milestone for PV in Germany.

“The synergy effects due to the size of the plant and the over 80% lower costs for photovoltaics in the past 10 years have contributed to this,” said Dirk Güsewell, head of generation portfolio development at EnBW. The company started preparing the site last year.

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The utility has awarded construction-related orders to more than 40 companies, many of which come from the region – starting with site management, traffic safety, landscaping services, and waste disposal. The construction phase will provide up to 150 jobs. Even after commissioning, several employees will stay on site to take care of maintenance and repairs.

The project will feature around 465,000 solar modules. They will be oriented to the south and will be installed on substructures up to a height of about 3 meters and an angle of 20 degrees, EnBW said.

The electricity will be fed into three 110-kilovolt lines managed by Edis Netz GmbH. Two new substations will be built west and southwest of the park in the immediate vicinity of the high-voltage lines.

In addition, EnBW is currently laying a 7-kilometer cable route to the substation that will be built in Blumberg district to the southwest. The third connection will be made at some point after that. EnBW assumes an operating period of 40 years for the PV plant.

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