The plant, with a total capacity of 21.14 MWp, will generate around 23 GWh of green electricity, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around 6,190 German 3-person households. Taking into account its own CO₂ footprint, the project can save 12,225 metric tons of CO₂ per year of operation. BayWa r.e.'s energy trading division will purchase the electricity under a power purchase agreement and market it on the electricity exchange.
With the solar park, BayWa r.e. is making use of the municipal participation option under Section 6 of the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG). According to this, affected municipalities can participate financially in the proceeds of a solar park.
High local acceptance
Herold Quick, mayor of the Liebenwerda municipality, comments: "We are pleased with the completion of the solar park. The approval and acceptance for this project among the citizens of Zobersdorf was remarkable from the beginning. In general, we are registering a great interest in renewable energies in our association municipality. With projects like this, we can make our contribution to the energy transition."
For the solar park, BayWa r.e. collaborated with 30°-SOLAR GmbH, a project development company for solar energy based in Berlin. Sebastian Preuß, Managing Director of 30°-SOLAR, comments on the cooperation: "Together with BayWa r.e., we successfully brought the 'Solarpark Bad Liebenwerda' project to construction maturity and provided support in securing land and permits. In doing so, we were able to find a good solution for the numerous skylark occurrences on the 22ha project area, which was particularly close to the heart of the Elbe-Elster district. We value BayWa r.e. as a competent partner and look forward to working together on further projects."
Protect solar, nature and landscape
To protect the soil, nature and landscape, extensive grassland use takes place at the solar park. As an additional compensatory measure for the construction of the PV open space plant, the extensification of an approx. 4.38 hectare compensation area in Zobersdorf was undertaken.
Marc Krezer, Head of Project Development PV Germany at BayWa r.e., adds: "The prime cost of electricity from this plant is lower than the cost of electricity generated from coal or gas. This makes the solar park in Bad Liebenwerda another BayWa r.e. project, after the Barth V solar park implemented in 2019, with which we were able to achieve grid parity in Germany. For a continuous implementation of further projects, we are basically looking for large open spaces, in order to advance the energy transition and create local added value through municipal investments. (hcn)
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