RWE commissions large-scale solar farms alongside German motorway

RWE continues to keep up the pace with the expansion of its solar portfolio. The company has commissioned several solar farms along a motorway (A44n) in North Rhine-Westphalia following around eight months of construction. The total installed capacity amounts to 86.5 megawatts peak (74.6 MWac).

With about 141,000 solar modules, the plants will generate enough electricity to supply the equivalent of 27,700 German households with climate-friendly electricity. The project sites in the Rhenish region lie to the west and east of the motorway between the towns of Bedburg and Jüchen and are on recultivated land at the Garzweiler opencast mine.

Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia: “The commissioning of the solar farms alongside the motorway shows that we are consistently driving forward the expansion of our solar portfolio. And we aren’t done there yet. Next year, we will add several thousand solar modules to the project. With wind and solar systems side by side, we are building a renewable energy road on recultivated land along the A44n motorway as a blueprint for further projects in the region.”

Implementation of the solar farm’s second stage with a capacity of 19.9 megawatts peak (15.5 MWac) is planned for next year. More than 30,600 additional solar modules are to be installed on recultivated land in the municipal area of Jüchen. Subject to planning permission, the first half of 2026 could see the start of construction. Commissioning is planned for the end of 2026. Solar projects along motorways not only benefit from faster approval processes but in most cases also enjoy a higher level of public acceptance.

RWE is also currently constructing the Bedburg 3 wind farm with nine turbines and a total capacity of around 60 megawatts close to the A44n solar sites. RWE builds and operates solar and wind projects with a total capacity of 540 megawatts in the Rhenish region.

Dr Lars Kulik, CTO Lignite at RWE Power: “The solar and wind projects on recultivated land along the A44n emphasise that structural change and the expansion of renewables in the Rhenish lignite area are going hand in hand. There is plenty of space in and around our opencast mines that we are also using for renewables projects. In addition, the employees of RWE Power contribute their knowledge and experience to support the construction and subsequent operation of the solar and wind farms. This means we are creating further prospects for our employees here in the region.”

Keeping up the pace for the expansion of solar energy in the Rhenish region

A strip of land alongside the A44n near Bedburg became the site of a photovoltaic plant constructed by RWE last year. In the immediate vicinity, RWE is also trialling the combination of agriculture and green electricity generation at its agrivoltaics demonstration plant. All in all, RWE now operates nine solar projects in the Rhenish region, four with their own integrated battery storage units. Further photovoltaic projects in the region are at the planning stage. One of those is the Manheimer Bucht solar farm, which will be located in the southern part of the Hambach opencast mine in the municipal area of Kerpen. Next year, a total of about 26,500 solar modules will be constructed in an area of about 14.5 hectares, equivalent to about 20 football pitches. Following completion at the end of 2026, this solar farm will have a capacity of 17.2 megawatts peak (14.3 MWac).

A map and pictures for media use are available at the RWE Media Centre (credit: RWE).