German energy major Uniper SE (ETR:UN01) plans to develop two solar projects with a combined capacity of 317 MWp in Lower Saxony, both in close proximity to its major hydrogen projects.
A solar park of around 300 MWp is to be built on an area of around 281 hectares in Elsfleth in the Oldenburg region, northern Germany. The power plant will be located near Uniper’s Energy Transformation Hub in Huntorf which features a compressed air energy storage (CAES) plant and a cavern storage facility. This will enable the production of green hydrogen with the electricity generated at the solar park and its storage at the hub.
The Elsfleth municipality granted in August the development decision for the solar project, which formally marks the beginning of the urban land use plan process. The statutory resolution is not expected to be in place before the end of 2024, Uniper noted.
The second solar park, with a planned capacity of 17 MWp, will be set up in Wilhelmshaven in the area of the ash landfill at the former Wilhelmshaven coal-fired power plant. The project was granted statutory resolution in August. Under the plan, more than 30,000 modules installed on an area of about 14 hectares are expected to generate 16,000 MWh per year.
The facility will be located close to Uniper’s Energy Transformation Hub Northwest which includes the group’s hydrogen plans for Wilhemshaven. The town, located on Germany’s North Sea coast, is planned to host Uniper’s 1-GW electrolysis plant.
The solar park will be connected to the already existing grid infrastructure at a Uniper site which will make it possible to use the electricity for the production of green hydrogen at the same site at a later point in time.
Uniper Renewables chief executive Joerg Lennertz commented that projects like the ones in Elsfleth and Wilhelmshaven are of great importance to the company because of their proximity to Energy Transformation Hubs.
Uniper has 1.5 GW of renewable energy projects under development across various European markets.
