The plant is being built on the Silbersee III lake, adjacent to the plant located at the city of Haltern am See. On completion, the solar installation will feature 5,800 PV modules with peak output of 3 MW, producing around 3 GWh/y of electricity and saving about 1,100 t/y of carbon dioxide, says BayWa.

The mineral extraction company intends to use 75% of the electricity for itself, to reduce its carbon dioxide footprint, with surplus green power fed into the public grid. The project is part of an ongoing programme to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions, following construction of two combined heat and power plants in recent years.

Stephen Auracher, Managing Director of BayWa re Power Solutions, highlighted the benefits for companies, gravel pits and quarries in particular, that could use ‘idle or partially used expanses of water’ for this purpose. ‘These areas hold immense untapped potential for the energy transition. Our floating PV systems offer attractive self-consumption and financing models,’ he claimed. 

Up until now, floating-PV projects have been implemented within the funding framework of the German Renewable Energy Act. However, with the new German [coalition] government’s goal of generating 80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, newer solar applications such as agri PV and floating PV are increasingly coming into focus, says BayWa. Benefits are claimed to be comparatively simple and quick installations, with higher potential energy output due to the cooling effect of the water, and lower operating and maintenance costs.