RWE has opened agrivoltaics demonstration plant in Bedburg aimed at producing green electricity and agricultural crops on one field.
RWE said the demonstration plant (3.2 megawatts peak) for agrivoltaics (Agri-PV) is in the Rhenish mining area. In Bedburg, at the edge of the Garzweiler opencast mine, around 6,100 solar modules have been producing green electricity since the start of this year, enough to supply the equivalent of 1,044 German homes.
Over the past few weeks, the first seeds have been sown and seedlings have been planted at the site. Today, RWE opened the plant in the presence of North Rhine-Westphalia Minister Mona Neubaur and other guests, among them Frank Rock, Rhein-Erft County Commissioner and Sascha Solbach, Mayor of the City of Bedburg.
Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia: “We are supporting this innovative project with €650,000 from the progres.nrw programme for climate protection and the energy transition.”
At the company’s demonstration plant, RWE is examining the interaction between plant growth and photovoltaics over a period of five years under different seasonal weather conditions. The aim is to develop suitable management methods and economic operating concepts for agrivoltaic systems on the basis of the knowledge gained.