Europe's Largest Photovoltaic Power Plant Successfully Connected To The Grid, Opening A New Energy Era!

German investment firm Hansainvest Real Assets has launched a 605 MW solar power plant in Witznitz, near Leipzig, Germany, Sobey PV learned from foreign media.

This facility is currently the largest operational photovoltaic project in Europe. Prior to its commissioning, Europe's largest solar installation had been the 500 MW Núñez de Balboa project across the cities of Usagre, Hinojosa del Valle, and Bienvenida in the Extremadura region of southern Spain.

At the site of this new power plant, project developer Move On Energy plans to install an additional 45 MW of capacity by the summer of 2024. The Witznitz project had its groundbreaking ceremony in June 2022 and was successfully completed in less than two years.

Move On Energy has deployed approximately 1.1 million solar modules on the 500-hectare site of the former "Witznitz II" open-pit lignite mine. As part of the project, new cycling paths were also built. Hedges have also been installed along the fence around the large-scale power plant.

Hansainvest Real Assets also plans to test "parallel agricultural use of the area below the solar modules" and has set up a test area of 5 to 10 hectares for this purpose.

In 2023, the investment company signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Shell Energy Europe for the purchase of solar power from the plant.