Move On Energy Commissions 650MW German PV Park

German Solar developer Move On Energy has announced it has commenced commercial operation of Europe’s largest solar PV park in Germany. The solar plant is located in Leipzig, eastern Germany, the Witznitz Energy Park has a capacity of 605MW, with a further 45MW to be installed and connected by Summer.

The project has been developed by Move On Energy, in partnership with German real estate company Hansainvest Real Assets, which is the investor of the project. Moreover, 1.1 million solar panels were installed in the solar park which is located on the site of a former opencast coal mine. A 15-year power purchase agreement was secured last year with oil giant Shell Energy Europe.

Recently, the German government adopted “Solar Package I”, a legislative package designed to further accelerate the expansion of solar power in Germany. The bureaucracy involved in building and operating photovoltaic systems of all sizes will be reduced, and the installation in particular of small “balcony power plants” will be made easier. New photovoltaic systems are already being installed at a rapid rate.

In other news, Germany-based Northvolt has started the construction of its battery gigafactory Northvolt Drei. The occasion was joined by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, and Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein Daniel Günther, together with Northvolt CEO and Co-Founder Peter Carlsson and Northvolt Drei CEO Christofer Haux, who started piling machinery at the industrial site.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation will spike by about 50 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024 in Europe due to major capacity installations across the region, predicts a report by Rystad Energy. The report also suggests that Wind power generation is also expected to increase in 2024. However, the growth rate will not match last the one seen in 2023, when wind energy output increased by 50 TWh thanks to additional capacity installations and a windier year.