LANGENENSLINGEN (dpa-AFX) - The energy supplier EnBW plans to break ground on Monday for what the industry claims will be the largest solar park in the country. According to EnBW, the plant in Langenenslingen (Biberach district) will go into operation in 2025 with an installed capacity of 80 megawatts and will thus be able to supply around 30,000 three-person households. It is therefore designed to run for 30 years. The park is 80 hectares in size and the area has been used for agriculture to date.

According to Andreas Schlumberger, Managing Director of the Baden-Württemberg Solar Cluster Association, solar parks are essential in order to achieve the climate targets. Around 10,400 megawatts of photovoltaics are currently installed on roofs and open spaces between Mannheim and Lindau. By 2040, this figure is set to rise to 47,000 megawatts, a third of which will be on open spaces. According to the managing director of the industry association, solar parks with an annual output of 800 megawatts are needed. "That's 10 large-scale solar parks that EnBW is currently building," says Schlumberger. "Or 80 solar parks if you look at the traditional large-scale solar parks in the country." The industry association now even assumes that significantly more capacity will be needed by 2040. It expects around 70,000 megawatts.

According to the Solar Cluster, more photovoltaic systems were installed in the southwest last year than ever before. According to the industry association, new systems with a capacity of around 1940 megawatts were connected to the grid in 2023. This is an increase of 130 percent compared to the previous year. The figures are based on data from the Federal Network Agency's market master data register and calculations by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). According to the association, the plant in Langenenslingen will be the largest in the state.

According to a spokesperson, EnBW currently operates 36 solar parks throughout Germany, 21 of which are in Baden-Württemberg. The energy supplier has the largest plant in Brandenburg. There are considerably larger areas available there than in the southwest, the spokesperson explained. The largest park there has an installed capacity of around 187 megawatts.

The planned solar park in Langenenslingen is a "great milestone for the state", says Environment Minister Thekla Walker (Greens). Such large-scale projects make a decisive contribution to the expansion of renewable energies in the state./ksr/DP/zb