RWE wins 12.2-MW solar-plus-storage project in German auction

RWE AG (ETR:RWE) has secured a project to set up a 12.2-MW solar plant and an energy storage system at an opencast mine in the Rhenish mining region as part of the latest German innovation auction.

The solar park will be built in the shore area of ​​the planned lake at the Hambach opencast mine. The storage system will have a two-hour electricity input and output capacity of 4.1 MW in order to help better match demand and supply, RWE said on Friday.

RWE has received a fixed remuneration for the PV Hambach I project from the Federal Network Agency. Now, it plans to apply for a building permit and launch the search for component suppliers.

The hybrid facility is expected to start producing and storing power in September 2023.

PV Hambach I will be the fourth power plant of this kind in the Rhenish mining area. It supports RWE's growth strategy in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia where the Essen-based power major plans to invest some EUR 4 billion (USD 4.15bn) gross. The group seeks to build green power plants with a combined capacity of 1 GW in the state by the end of the decade and at least 500 MW of these projects will be in the Rhenish mining region.

In the mining region, RWE already operates wind parks in Bedburg, Bergheim, Eschweiler, Grevenbroich, Juechen and Titz and has more wind projects under construction or planning. At the end of April, it began the construction of a 14.4-MW solar project with integrated battery storage of 9.6 MWh at the Inden opencast mine.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.039)

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