Germany's BayWa r.e. Builds Central Europe's Largest Floating Solar Plant

Germany’s BayWa r.e. Builds Central Europe’s Largest Floating Solar Plant

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Wed, Feb 22nd, 2023

Highlights :

The 24.5 MWp capacity plant in Grafenwörth in the state of Lower Austria covers an area of 14 hectares on two artificial lakes of a former sand and gravel pit.
It will produce 26,700 MWh of green power per year and be able to supply about 7,500 households.

ECOwind, a subsidiary of German developer, BayWa r.e., together with Austrian energy supplier EVN, has built central Europe’s largest floating PV array in Austria.

The 24.5 MWp capacity plant in Grafenwörth in the state of Lower Austria covers an area of 14 hectares on two artificial lakes of a former sand and gravel pit. It will produce 26,700 MWh of green power per year and be able to supply about 7,500 households. The project is the fourth largest floating-PV plant in Europe after three projects located in the Netherlands, which have all been built by BayWa r.e., the firm claims. The floating solar plant is the largest of its kind in Austria and Central Europe.

Floating PV “creates a new function for otherwise unused water surfaces”, said Benedikt Ortmann, Global Director of Solar Projects at BayWa r.e. while adding, “With this turnkey floating-PV project, we have brought incremental improvements to our already cutting-edge systems in the Netherlands.”

The firm brought its pilot floating solar system online in the Netherlands in 2018, and has now installed floating-PV systems with a total capacity of over 230 MWp. In 2020, as per Baywa r.e., it completed the largest floating-PV system outside of Asia – Bomhofsplas plant at 27.4 MWp, which was augmented to 29.8 MWp with Uivermeertjes project and 41.4 MWp project Sellingen in 2021. Currently, the firm has 12 floating PV installations in the Netherlands. Its first floating solar projects in APAC region were set up in Thailand with 2.8 MWp, in Germany with 3 MWp, and now, Austria with 24.5 MWp.

The companies will carry out research on the fish population and examine the local dragonfly fauna regularly over several years to ensure the integration of the Grafenwörth project into the surrounding ecosystem,

ECOwind MD Johann Janker said, “In Grafenwörth, the challenge was to drive approval procedures and regulations for this new PV application in Austria and to ensure a safe construction – which we managed even with a level difference of seven metres between the mounting surface and the water.”

He further informed, “Besides being quickly installed and easy to maintain, floating-PV also has the benefit of a higher electricity yield thanks to the cooling effect of water – making the application a very attractive prospect to landowners of unused water bodies.”