Agreement For 500 MW Subsidy-Free Solar In Germany

A new partnership has been forged in Germany to jointly operate 500 MW of large-scale subsidy free solar PV projects in the country. The partners are Thüga Group’s renewable energy development and investment platform Thüga Erneuerbare Energien GmbH & Co. KG (THEE) and private equity group CEE Group.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two Hamburg based firms will have THEE bringing in long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) possibilities leveraging on the network of municipal utilities of its parent company. It also has access to suitable sites in several federal states in Germany along with holding planning and energy management expertise.

CEE will bring to the table capital, financing expertise, and international market and transaction knowledge as it has been investing in wind and solar assets across continental Europe among other renewable technologies. It also acquires, operates, maintains and repowers large-scale solar PV plants across multiple markets.

The partners said corresponding projects among others in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg are already under development and are to be realized step by step from 2020.

Subsidy-free solar PV projects are beginning to emerge in Germany. For instance, German subsidiary of Switzerland’s Axpo signed a PPA for 1.5 MW subsidy-free solar park in July 2019. Previously, BayWa r.e. secured financing from an unidentified German Bank for its 8.8 MW Barth V solar project in May 2019 calling it the country’s first subsidy-free solar park. In February 2019, EnBW said it will construct the 175 MW Weesow-Willmersdorf project without state subsidies with construction to begin by the end of 2019.