GW-Level Floating Solar Potential In Baden-Wurttemberg

• Fraunhofer ISE estimates 280 MW to 1.07 GW economic and practically exploitable floating solar PV potential in Baden-Württemberg
• It studied 69 water bodies in the region under work commissioned by the state Environment Ministry
• The potential will go further go up if it were to include quarry ponds that have already been silted out

Picturesque southern German State of Baden-Wurttemberg can host between 280 MW to 1.07 GW of floating solar PV capacity on its quarry lakes as these can be used for nothing else, thus helping save land finds a new study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (Fraunhofer ISE).

Commissioned by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector, the Fraunhofer study concentrated on quarry ponds that are not to be used for leisure activities, tourism, nature and landscape protection.

The amount of floating solar PV capacity assessed by the institute after studying conditions of 69 water bodies also evaluated the economic and practically exploitable potential of the sites to host the same.

Upper Rhine water area was found most suitable for floating solar thanks to the high density of lakes and the frequent occurrence of sand, gravel and gravel in the region. "At the same time, the electricity generated can be consumed directly on site by the adjacent gravel works. Their electricity requirements are usually quite high and therefore no longer have to be covered by fossil fuels," explained Co-Author of the study Konstantin Ilgen.

The researchers argue that if one were to include quarry ponds that have already been silted out, the sum of all potential floating PV areas would almost double.

In 2020, Fraunhofer ISE in a BayWa r.e. commissioned study claimed 56 GW technical potential for floating PV on lignite opencast mines in Germany, while the economic potential was pegged at 2.74 GW (see Study Explores Floating PV Potential In Germany).

The State of Baden-Württemberg is making speedy efforts in the direction of decarbonization of its grid. Here, the government has made it mandatory for new residential and commercial buildings to install solar PV, and recently also increased its annual installation limit for large scale PV to 500 MW from 100 MW previously, to enable more projects to participate in Bundesnetzagentur auctions (see Southern German State Increases Solar Target To 500 MW).