RWE uses highway edge for solar systems

14.05.2025

Source: E & M powernews

The energy company RWE is currently building several large photovoltaic plants with a total output of 86.5 MW along the A44 federal highway.

According to the Essen-based energy company, around 141,000 solar modules with an output of 86.5 MW will generate electricity for around 27,700 households every year. The project is part of RWE's strategic orientation to increasingly use infrastructure areas such as highway verges in the development of PV projects.

The plants will be erected to the east and west of the A44 between the towns of Bedburg (Rhein-Erft district) and Jüchen (Rhein-Kreis Neuss district) on recultivated areas of the former Garzweiler open-cast mine. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2025.

Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia, says: "We are pushing ahead with the expansion of our solar portfolio and are increasingly using areas along freeways." Such projects not only benefit from faster approval procedures, but usually also enjoy "significantly higher acceptance among the population".

RWE is endeavoring to build more renewable energy plants at the Garzweiler lignite site in the Rhenish mining area. Last year, RWE commissioned its first photovoltaic plant on the edge of the A44 motorway near Bedburg. Not far from there, the company operates an agrivoltaic plant.

RWE currently operates a total of seven photovoltaic plants in the Rhenish mining area, four of which have an integrated battery storage system for more flexible feed-in to the grid. In addition, RWE began construction of a further plant in the Hambach opencast lignite mine in April. Over 22,000 modules with an output of 12 MW will be installed near the village of Niederzier. According to RWE, further projects in the region are already being planned.

The commitment is also welcomed at municipal level. Harald Zillikens, Mayor of the town of Jüchen, explains: "The A 44 is increasingly developing into an energy highway. The new PV systems on recultivated open-cast mining land are another important building block on the way to a successful energy transition."

Author: Stefan Sagmeister