EnBW is building a 6.5 MW solar farm in Ulm-Eggingen

Stuttgart. Regenerative electricity from the power of the sun is on the march again at EnBW. In Ulm- Eggingen, EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH is building one of the largest solar farms in Baden-Württemberg on a former landfill site. The solar farm, with an output of 6.5 megawatts, should go online in June 2010 and generate around 6.9 million kilowatt hours a year. It will supply around 1970 households and save roughly 3990 tonnes of CO2.

"EnBW is continuing to follow its expansion aims consistently in the area of renewable energies. Apart from our focus on hydropower and wind energy, we are also investing in solar energy. In Ulm-Eggingen we are now realising one of the largest solar farms in Baden-Württemberg, and also our fifth photovoltaic project in just a few months," explains Stefan Thiele, Spokesperson for the Managing Board of EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH.

Polycrystalline photovoltaic modules from the manufacturer Solarfun and central inverters from Siemens are being installed at the 8-hectare site. The construction works are provided by solar energy company Bayer & Raach from Zwiefalten.

The aim of EnBW is to increase the proportion of renewable energies in its energy mix to around 20 % by 2020. Apart from expanding onshore and offshore wind energy, alongside its traditionally high commitment to hydropower, EnBW is also using other mature technologies such as solar energy, biomass and biogas. In the area of photovoltaics, EnBW will increase its installed output to around ten megawatts with the solar farm in Ulm-Eggingen. EnBW has already started operating its first large-scale solar farm, with 2.1 MW, in Leibertingen. In addition to this, the first photovoltaic plants have been installed on EnBW's own roofs. The plants on the logistics centres in Wendlingen and Stuttgart and on the EnBW administrative building in Biberach together have an output of around one MW and generate 1 million kilowatt hours a year.