400 MW Subsidy Free Solar Plant Planned For Germany

• LEAG and EPNE to build a 400 MW solar power project in Germany's Forst region
• The subsidy free project will be located in a region where LEAG has some previously used open-cast mines
• A 40 MW solar power plant on unused ash dump nearby is also planned by both the partners

The list of subsidy free solar power projects in Germany is growing with a new 400 MW solar project entering the club. Lignite energy producer and supplier LEAG has shared plans to build the solar project with EP New Energies GmbH (EPNE), the renewable energy arm of Czech Republic based energy company EPH Group that also holds stake in LEAG. EP New Energies is on board with its development and implementation experience of solar PV and onshore wind energy systems.

The 400 MW Bohrau Energy Park is planned to come up near Forst where LEAG still has some previously used open-cast mines. They also plan to build a 40 MW solar project to be located nearby on the unused ash dump Jänschwalde I with commercial operations planned for 2023. A year later in 2024, the 400 MW PV facility is scheduled to come up. Together, both the projects will be able to generate enough clean energy to suffice electricity requirements of around 125,000 households.

Especially the LEAG project, the project partners said, will allow the possibility to jointly expand the local region's power grid infrastructure thereby improving its energy security.

Both LEAG and EPNE plan to establish several wind and solar power plants of 'several hundred MW' over the next 5 years and they consider renewable energy installations as good replacement for land once used for mining purposes.

"The expansion of renewable energies in the post-mining landscape of the LEAG offers a multitude of opportunities for structural development in Lusatia," said LEAG board member for the area of ​​new business areas, Andreas Huck. "Combined with various innovative approaches, also in the area of ​​hydrogen, the Bohrau energy park should be the basis for further investments."

Recently LEAG and EPNE unveiled their plans to develop a 21 MW floating solar power system as the largest floating PV project in Germany to date. The Cottbus Baltic Sea Floating Solar PV Project will be located on 18 hectares of the Cottbus Baltic Sea. It is scheduled to come online in 2023, and expected to generate around 20,000 MWh annually.