RWE starts building solar-plus-storage site at Hambach mine

German energy group RWE AG (ETR:RWE) has started construction works on an 8.4-MW solar plant with an 8-MWh battery storage system at the Hambach lignite opencast mine in the Rhenish mining district in western Germany.

The solar farm will have 22,000 bifacial solar modules and is expected to produce enough power to meet the needs of more than 3,100 households. The battery, in turn, is designed for a two-hour charging and supply cycle, according to a statement released today.

The project, dubbed RWE Neuland Solar Farm, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It is part of an inter-municipal framework plan to re-cultivate the mine and exploit it until the planned Hambach Lake is built and filled with water in about 40 years.

RWE intends to operate the facility in partnership with Neuland Hambach GmbH which represents the interests of the six municipalities and is in charge of the structural changes in the region.

The RWE Neuland Solar Farm is similar in size to the RWE indeland Solar Farm at the Inden opencast mine which was built in about eight months and commissioned in late 2022.

“We are stepping up the pace, in particular in our home state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and we are implementing every wind and solar project possible. Across Germany, the capacity of these renewable energy projects will amount to 1,000 MW by 2030, with at least 500 MW to be located in the Rhenish mining district,” said Katja Wunschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia.

To achieve the abovementioned plan, the company will be investing about EUR 4 billion (USD 4.34bn).

(EUR 1 = USD 1.085)

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