Innovative hybrid project combines solar energy, wind power, and battery storage at a single location
EnBW has opened an innovative energy park in Gundelsheim (Baden-Württemberg) that combines solar energy, wind power, and battery storage in one location. The first part, a solar park with an installed capacity of 58 megawatts, is already in operation. Covering an area of 55 hectares and featuring 110,000 photovoltaic modules, it is one of the largest plants in Baden-Württemberg. The energy park will generate electricity for around 30,000 households annually.
The energy park perfectly illustrates how several renewable technologies can be efficiently networked with one another. The on-site hybrid storage facility combines used electric car batteries and sodium-ion batteries to make feeding into the grid flexible and cover the plants' own energy needs. “In the right mix and on the right scale, this creates an integral energy system that strikes the right balance between cost-effectiveness, reliability and sustainability,” explained Georg Stamatelopoulos, CEO of EnBW.
The storage facility combines twelve used Audi e-tron batteries with a new kind of sodium-ion storage system. With a total capacity of 2.25 megawatt hours and an output of 1.22 megawatts, it is the largest battery of this technology installed in Europe. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems is conducting research into the optimal coupling of technologies as part of a project supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
In addition to energy production, the energy park brings economic benefits to the region. The town of Gundelsheim also benefits from rental income and trade tax. EnBW has put nature and species conservation measures in place. These include strips of wildflowers, a wide wildlife corridor as well as an environmental upgrade of a fire pond.
With the energy park in Gundelsheim, EnBW is setting another milestone in the transformation of the energy system and strengthening its position as a driver of a sustainable energy future in Germany. This year, EnBW will achieve its highest ever expansion in renewable energies. This applies to both Germany and Baden-Württemberg.
About EnBW
With about 30,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy companies in Germany and Europe. It supplies around 5.5 million customers with energy and serves all stages of the value chain, from generation and trading to grid operation and the sale of electricity, heating and gas. As part of its transformation from a traditional energy company to a sustainable infrastructure group, the expansion of renewable energy sources and of the distribution and transmission grids for electricity, gas and hydrogen are cornerstones of EnBW's growth strategy and the focus of its investments. Until 2030, EnBW plans gross investments up to €50 billion, around 85 percent of which will be invested in Germany. By then, around 80 percent of EnBW's generation portfolio is to consist of renewable energies, and the company aims to phase out coal by the end of 2028 if circumstances allow. These are key milestones on the road to the company's climate neutrality in 2035.