North Rhine-Westphalia has proposed a Federal Council initiative to relax rules on floating solar
Current laws limit its deployment by imposing blanket restrictions on area coverage and distances from water bodies
Gravel pit lakes in regions like Lower Rhine offer vast potential for this technology that can save onshore resources, it argues
The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has initiated a proposal that if cleared by the Federal Council or Bundesrat, can significantly expand the floating solar PV market in the country.
Its proposal calls on the federal government to ease restrictions on the use of artificial and heavily modified bodies of water under Federal Water Resources Act through blanket area and distance limits.
The state government has proposed to introduce more flexible regulations that are ecologically sound and economically viable.
It suggests that water bodies, in particular, lakes created by gravel and sand mining lead to small shallow water zones where floating solar can help generate solar power thus saving land and other onshore resources.
“This will make floating photovoltaics more attractive because larger systems are more economical. Especially in regions like the Lower Rhine, with a lot of gravel mining and gravel pits, this creates potential for generating electricity in a land-saving manner and also for using it directly on site,” said NRW’s Environment Minister Oliver Krischer, who initiated the initiative.
Currently, NRW hosts 6 floating PV systems with the largest project sporting 5.6 MW capacity on the Bislich quarry lake. It can generate around 5 million kWh annually. NRW seeks permission to install larger floating PV systems for the industrialized state.
Among the ones in the pipeline is a project by the University of Düsseldorf that plans an inner-city project with a floating PV system on the university lake. It can generate clean energy enough for the consumption of 171 single-family homes.
NRW’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy, Mona Neubaur added, “The energy transition requires creative solutions – floating photovoltaics can be a key component for efficiently developing suitable areas.”
Germany’s technical floating solar potential on artificial lakes with a minimum 1-hectare size can go up to 45 GW, according to an RWE and Fraunhofer ISE study, however strict restrictions limit the avenues to exploit this potential. The writers of this 2024 study had recommended the government to expand the limit of 15% water coverage area to 35% (see 45 GW Technical Floating Solar PV Potential In Germany).