RWE Kicks Off Two Solar Plus Battery Projects in Garzweiler Mine

RWE Kicks Off Two Solar Plus Battery Projects in Garzweiler Opencast Mine

German multinational energy firm RWE installed 58,000 photovoltaic modules in the Garzweiler opencast mine. The modules also boast two battery storage facilities.

The project is supplying solar energy to over 7,250 German households per year. The project employs bifacial modules, that capture sunlight from not only both the sides, but also uses light reflected from the ground on their back sides. This leads to additional efficiency.

The Garzweiler mine peaks to 19.4 megawatts peak (MWp) and has storage capacity worth 6.5 MW. Located below Königshovener Höhe Wind Farm, the German city of Bedburg and RWE are looking after the project.

The opencast mine is also home to the Jackerath project in Titz, operated by RWE. The project has a capacity of 12.1 MWp with storage battery of 4.1 MW. The storage systems lend support to a two-hour charging and supply cycle.

Sascha Solbach, Mayor of the City of Bedburg, stated, “For a clean and reliable electricity supply, we not only need more renewables, we also need battery solutions such as those implemented by RWE at the Garzweiler opencast mine, enabling our citizens to use solar power even after sunset.”

Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia, said, “Solar power from opencast mines is a model for success. Using them in combination with battery systems is ideal. This is an integrated and highly successful plant concept that we are putting into practice at several locations simultaneously. In a short timeframe we have constructed three large-scale solar battery plants on opencast mine sites, and one more is under construction. That represents a further step towards our goal of achieving renewables projects with a capacity of 500 megawatts in the Rhenish lignite mining area by 2030.”’

“The two locations have a combined area of approximately 38 football fields. This shows it is not only our large-scale recultivation areas that offer plenty of space for renewables but also opencast mine areas that are still in operation. We plan to use these to ensure the region continues to be an energy producer into the future,” Lars Kulik, CTO Lignite at RWE Power informed.

Opencast Mine Projects by RWE

At the location of the Inden open-cast lignite mine, RWE operates a utility-scale photovoltaic plant with an integrated storage system. At peak output, the solar modules are designed to provide 14.4 megawatts of electricity. The facility at the future mine lake, known as “RWE indeland Solar Farm”, is the first of its kind for RWE in Europe, bringing together about 26,500 solar modules and a battery storage system.

RWE is also establishing the RWE Neuland Solar Farm in the Hambach opencast mine to provide over 3,100 homes with green electricity from 22,000 solar modules.