The “Altes Kraftwerk” Zschornewitz solar park in the district of Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt) officially went into operation today, Wednesday, July 7th. For the first time since the decommissioning of the Zschornewitz power plant in 1992, one of the oldest in Germany, electricity is now being produced again at the site in Zschornewitz – this time CO2-free. The open-area PV plant was planned by EP New Energies GmbH (EPNE) with a capacity of 4.5 MW. With today’s commissioning, the solar park goes online six months earlier than originally planned. From now on, LEAG will take over the operational management, maintenance and electricity marketing for the solar park.
The solar park “Altes Kraftwerk” continues the tradition of power generation at the Zschornewitz site – and with green energy. Therefore, the solar park symbolizes LEAG’s realignment: “from a leading mining and power plant operator, we are developing into a future-proof energy company”, explains Andreas Huck, LEAG board member for new business areas and digitalization. “The project underlines our competence as a versatile company for energy, infrastructure and service in several respects. We are not only gradually expanding our renewables portfolio but are also strengthening other future-oriented business areas with the renewable energy plants, thus securing stable capital flows. Electricity from renewable sources can and will be a door opener for further structural development for the entire region.”
The electricity from the Zschornewitz solar park is marketed in LEAG’s virtual power plant network, the “energy cubes” (www.leag.de/de/energycubes), which combine energy generation plants of different sizes and functions into agile and virtual units. The newly created operations management unit also ensures the technically flawless and optimized operation of renewable energy plants. “In the new business areas, we can draw on our many years of experience in the operation, marketing, maintenance and performance optimization of energy plants – an energy service from which our customers also benefit”, says Harald Altmann, head of innovative energy solutions at LEAG.
“With the construction of our first open-area PV plant, we are laying the foundation for a future-proof energy supply in the lignite regions of our group of companies”, explains EPNE managing director Dominique Guillou. “For 2021 alone, EPNE plans to obtain assembly decisions for over 500-MW of photovoltaic projects and to submit permit applications for over 250-MW of wind energy projects. A start that makes us very proud.”
EP New Energies is the center of excellence for renewable energies of the EPH Group founded in 2019 and consolidates know-how for the development and construction of renewable energy plants in the field of photovoltaics and onshore wind energy. As a project developer, the young company is working on a project portfolio of over 2-GW, covering onshore wind, open-area PV, floating PV as well as hybrid projects. Innovative approaches are also pursued, such as the conversion of existing grid infrastructure, self-supply models and the direct connection of industrial companies to renewable generation plants.
Your contact for further information:
Thoralf Schirmer, LEAG, Press Officer, Office in Cottbus
+ 49 (0) 355 2887 3067, thoralf.schirmer@leag.de
Margarita Schulz, EPNE, HR & Communications Manager
+49 (0) 30 767584572, margarita.schulz@epne.de