1KOMMA5° wins contract to supply renewable energy to 560 state-owned buildings in Lower Saxony
The company will install PV systems across 555,000 m² of rooftop area for 25 years
This advances Lower Saxony’s goal to equip all suitable roofs with solar installations
1KOMMA5° has also filed an EU complaint opposing Germany’s 20 GW fossil gas expansion plan
Hamburg, Germany-based clean energy firm 1KOMMA5° has won a Europe-wide tender process to secure a contract to supply renewable electricity to 560 state-owned buildings across southeastern Lower Saxony.
The contract was awarded by the Ministry of Finance of Lower Saxony. Under this, 1KOMMA5° will install PV projects on approximately 555,000 m2 of roof area, powering the buildings directly and feeding excess electricity into the grid. The buildings include police stations, schools, universities, and other existing and new structures. 1KOMMA5° will operate these systems for a period of 25 years.
Lower Saxony will offer public buildings in the cities of Braunschweig, Salzgitter, and Wolfsburg, as well as in the districts of Gifhorn, Goslar, Göttingen, Helmstedt, Hildesheim, Holzminden, Northeim, Peine, and Wolfenbüttel for this project, out of around 5,500 buildings it owns.
“We are delighted to have been awarded the contract. It demonstrates how well our fully digitalized planning and installation processes meet the requirements of public clients and large-scale projects. This allows us to install energy systems quickly and reliably,” stated 1KOMMA5° Managing Director B2B, Marvin Endres.
For Lower Saxony, this advances its goal of equipping all suitable roofs with PV systems at the earliest, as it targets climate-neutrality by 2035. While work is already underway in the Hanover region and the northwest, the tendering process for the last remaining region, North-Central, is due to begin shortly. In 2023, Enercity won the contract to solarize around 500 buildings in the German state (see Lower Saxony Contracts For Rooftop Solar).
“The state's photovoltaic initiative is progressing step by step,” said Lower Saxony Finance Minister Gerald Heere. “As a public sector, we have a role model function and are thus demonstrating that it is possible to advance the expansion of photovoltaics within a reasonable timeframe and under economic conditions."
In related news, 1KOMMA5° has officially filed a complaint with the European Commission against the German government’s plans to expand fossil gas-fired power plants by at least 20 GW by 2030. These are planned to be supported with subsidies that need to be approved by the EU under state aid law.
1KOMMA5° argues this will distort competition and increase the costs of energy transition while unfairly favoring fossil fuels. The company says decentralized, renewable-based flexibility solutions are cheaper, more climate-friendly, and can ensure energy security without costly subsidies. It has filed a complaint with the European Commission calling for fair competition and technological neutrality while calling out the federal government’s plans as one-sided and detrimental to virtual power plants.
