Stadtwerke Leipzig plans 37.5-MW solar thermal project in Germany

German municipal utility Stadtwerke Leipzig is planning to build a solar thermal project with a capacity of up to 37.5 MW in Leipzig to support the city on the way to climate neutrality.

The solar thermal plant will serve for water heating and will be built in an agricultural area in the Lausen-Gruenau district of the eastern German city near an existing power station and a substation, the utility said last week. The facility would be the largest of its kind in Germany.

The city has already initiated a change to the existing land-use plan and a draft for a development plan. The city council will then make a decision on the two plans which will provide areas for solar plants that would support the city's energy supply.

The integration of the solar thermal plant into Leipzig's cultural and open landscape poses a planning challenge and measures have already been planned to keep the soil fertility and raise biodiversity.

Under the current plan, the area where the plant will be built should be used for agricultural purposes again after the decommissioning of the facility in about 50 years.

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