EnBW has added about 800MW of new solar capacity to its development pipeline as part of a strategy to boost the company's renewables portfolio. The first major project will be the 175MW Weesow-Willmersdorf plant at Werneuchen in the region of Brandenburg in Germany, EnBW said. Weesow-Willmersdorf, which was acquired from Procon Solar last year, will cover 164 hectares and deliver 175 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year. Construction could start by the end of the year. EnBW chief technical officer Hans-Josef Zimmer said: “As part of our EnBW 2020 strategy, we have established a new business field for renewable energies and have successfully developed it into an important pillar for the company. “And we aim to grow further in this area. By realising the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar park, we will not only become one of the top players on the German PV market, but will once again be sending an important signal about the market viability of renewable technologies. “At Weesow-Willmersdorf, we want to prove that our solar park can be the first in Germany to be operated profitably without funding.” EnBW head of generation portfolio development Dirk Gusewell said: “We have seen a remarkable development over the past few years in solar technology. “Due to technical advances, the cost of constructing solar parks has fallen dramatically – by up to 90% over the last 10 years in Germany. “Therefore, today the costs involved in solar energy are on at least an equal footing with other technologies – which has also been demonstrated by the results of the latest auctions. “We anticipate that the first large solar projects will be realised without EEG funding in the foreseeable future. Solar energy thus has a realistic chance of achieving this market maturity.”
EnBW plans to improve its renewables portfolio by adding 800 MW of solar capacity. The first addition to its development pipeline will be the 175 MW Weesow-Willmersdorf plant, purchased from Procon Solar in 2018. In addition, EnBW, which is a member of the European Renewable Energy Association (EREA), has signed an agreement with German utility RWE npower for the construction and operation of two new wind Construction could begin before the end of 2019. EnBW believe the Weesow-Willmersdorf plant will provide evidence of its growing influence in the country’s PV sector. It wants to establish renewable technologies’ place in the market and show a solar park can be profitable without funding.