The new solar park will produce around 12,800 MWh of electricity per year and can thus save 9,000 tons of CO2, while producing enough energy to supply 3,600 households. The plant was built by Solea AG and the company is also responsible for operation and maintenance.
“Despite many challenges, such as a tight module market, delivery difficulties and a shortage of raw materials, we were able to connect the solar park in Rotthalmünster to the grid on time. We are pleased to be operating our first PPA project in Germany”, Voigt said. The partner for the PPA is RWE Supply & Trading based in Essen. The PPA was agreed as a “pay as produced” structure with a fixed price over twelve years. “In this way, we have hedged the price risk with an established partner”, says Voigt. “We are pleased to be able to support aream with our expertise in marketing their solar park”, says Dr Hendrik Niebaum, Head of Commodity Solutions at RWE Supply & Trading. “With our global portfolio, we as RWE are among the leading producers of electricity from renewable sources. We already have a large green power portfolio, whether from our own plants or those of third parties. We want to expand this further so that we can support our industrial customers and our municipal utility partners in achieving their climate protection targets”, Niebaum said.
PPAs are still relatively rare in Germany but are already firmly established in other European countries. The German market is considered one of the markets with the greatest potential for this. PPAs offer power generators and customers the opportunity to agree on prices for the long term and thus bring stability to payment flows. “This creates security on both sides: The buyer knows his costs for the next few years, and the supplier knows his revenues”, says Voigt. To participate in this, investors can invest in aream’s Clean Energy Future Fund. “Within a renewable energy portfolio, this also makes it easier to plan returns”, says Voigt.
