Solar park

Heinsberg, 09.06.2022. Almost one year after the foundation of SUNfarming West GmbH in Heinsberg, a subsidiary of the SUNfarming Group with headquarters in Erkner near Berlin, the first 5.1 MW solar park on the site of the former gravel pit "Tagebau Wilhelm" of the Heinsberg families Quadflieg and Hensing could be connected to the grid. As a pioneer in the field of agri-voltaic systems, investor and operator of more than 350 megawatts of PV systems in its own portfolio, SUNfarming has installed innovative elements of its two product types "agri- and eco-photovoltaics" in this solar park for the first time in the Rhineland.

In this way, another subsequent use has been created on the backfilled former gravel pit, which from now on will make an important contribution to energy security in Heinsberg as well as to the reduction of climate-damaging greenhouse gases. The PV system generates regional green electricity that will supply more than 1,500 households. Sheep graze under the module tables, and a flowering meadow has been laid out on the surface to breed queen bees so that flora and fauna can develop undisturbed. In total, the plant saves about 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. In the future, part of the electricity will be used to balance the Alliander grid. In addition, the green electricity will be available to the people of Heinsberg as regional electricity from the local solar park. The electricity supplier lekker Energie will soon offer such a regional electricity product for electricity customers in Heinsberg.

"SUNfarming is a German medium-sized family business that develops, builds, operates and mostly finances all types of photovoltaic systems in 15 countries around the world, including classic ground-mounted, roof-mounted and landfill systems as an investor. However, our focus is on the dual use of extensively used agricultural land for our agri- and eco-PV as well as also gardening and orcharding concepts and for our animal welfare plants with suckler cow husbandry," explains Edith Brasche, member of the management board of SUNfarming West and director for international projects of SUNfarming. "In addition to climate protection and the generation of renewable energy, we are also particularly interested in ensuring agricultural use or the production of food under the facilities. Since 2014, the SUNfarming group has implemented Agri-PV concepts, also known as Food & Energy plants, in South Africa and other African countries, Turkey, Madagascar and the Dominican Republic. In Africa and Southern Europe, it has been shown that Agri-PV is able to protect plants and animals from climate-related, damaging weather conditions, such as we are unfortunately increasingly experiencing here in the Rhineland. We also want to contribute to keeping as much CO2 as possible in the soil through rewetting under the plants," says Edith Brasche.
Igor Hensing, a graduate mining engineer with many years of experience in the field of new technologies in biomass, renewable energies and green chemistry, is also a member of the management of SUNfarming West and is pleased that after almost ten years of development, the realisation of this project in Heinsberg has now succeeded: "On an area like the former Wilhelm open-cast mine, the realisation of such an innovative solar park with agricultural use and contribution to biodiversity is simply ideal. Due to the maximum fist height of 2.90 m, the plant fits in here on the site and ideally into the landscape. At the same time, almost no area was sealed," explains Igor Hensing. "Dual-use concepts such as agri- and eco-PV or solar on water could make a major contribution to achieving the internationally agreed climate targets without causing conflicts in land use. We urgently need to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies. The climate protection goals to which we as Europeans committed in Paris 2015 mean, for example, a quadrupling of solar energy production for NRW by 2030. We do not have much time! The approval procedures for renewable energies must be significantly simplified and accelerated," says Igor Hensing.
Reiner Priggen also welcomes the official start of the largest solar park of this kind in NRW, which contains agri and eco-PV elements: "According to the plans of the state government so far, the installed solar power capacity is to be almost quadrupled to 24,000 megawatts by 2030. That is why we need many such innovative dual-use projects like the one in Heinsberg as soon as possible," emphasised the Chairman of the NRW Renewable Energies Association (LEE NRW) at the inauguration ceremony.
On this occasion, Priggen called on the emerging new Düsseldorf state government of the CDU and the Greens to use photovoltaics to an "extent not yet known nationwide". "For this we need not only every private and commercial roof, but as many agri- and floating PV projects as possible, as well as open space installations on the verges of motorways and railway lines.

SUNfarming specialises primarily in large-scale systems, the occupation of conversion areas, landfill sites and with a particular focus on Agri-PV, Eco-PV and Moorland PV systems. Special quality features are the extremely durable and high-yielding glass-glass modules combined with a sophisticated irrigation system and a stable steel construction with which the modules are placed at different heights. SUNfarming has its own teams for technical development and quality control. SUNfarming's development and implementation know-how was also used, among other things, in the development and construction of the research and demonstration plant of the Jülich Research Centre and the Fraunhofer Institute as part of the BioeconomyREVIER structural change initiative at the Morschenich-Alt site near Jülich, which was completed a few months ago.

About SUNfarming:
SUNfarming was founded in 2004 by the North German entrepreneur and agricultural economist Peter Schrum and his partner Martin Tauschke in Erkner near Berlin. The family-run project developer and investor realises turnkey solar plants with a focus on agri- and eco-solar plants and is active in 15 countries around the world. As an investor, SUNfarming operates approx. 350 MW of solar power in its own portfolio and is currently working on a further 2.5 gigawatt project volume in Germany alone. SUNfarming had already developed its own quality seal for solar modules in 2007. In the company's own research and development centre in Rathenow near Berlin, SUNfarming has been researching and developing the cultivation of vegetables, medicinal herbs, fruit and wine as well as the keeping of chickens, sheep and suckler cows with calves under PV and the use of new PV technologies and agri-robots under the modules in cooperation with various universities since 2018. SUNfarming has already received several awards for its holistic commitment through the use of its "Food & Energy concepts" in combination with the production of food, the training of needy people in sustainable agriculture and the creation of jobs. SUNfarming is also a founding member of the Bundesverband Regenerative Mobilität e.V. and the non-profit development aid association Food, Education, Energy & Development e.V..

Contact:
SUNfarming West GmbH
At the Vossenweg 2
52525 Heinsberg
Germany
Edith Brasche
Mobile: +49 152 536 169 93
e.brasche@sunfarming.de
Igor Hensing
Mobile: +49 172 214 3827
i.hensing@sunfarming.de

The funds received are intended for additional project development and pre-financing exclusively for German solar projects.

Martin Tauschke, CEO of SUNfarming GmbH: “We are very happy about the trust that investors have in us. Especially in view of the current capital market environment, we are extremely satisfied with the fact that we were able to already successfully place around 75% of the total volume. This result speaks very clearly for our company, our strategy and the undisputed growth market of renewable energies. "
Despite the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, SUNfarming expects 2020 to be a successful year with around 50 MWp of completed projects in Germany and abroad.
For the first half of 2021, the project pipeline already comprises more than 30 MW.

More information can be found here (in German)

(Photo, from left to right: Karsten Balzer, SUNfarming authorized signatory, Martin Tauschke, CEO of SUNfarming GmbH)

The following article is a translation and was published on December 4th, 2020 in the Spreejournal Fürstenwalde, Bettina Winkler)

Five farmers from the Odervorland office are providing areas for a photovoltaic park, which is to become one of the largest in Brandenburg.
Farmers in the region have been concerned for years and are fighting to keep their farms going. Due to climate change, the amount of precipitation has almost halved in the last 30 years and the productivity of the soil is declining more and more.
The Sunfarming GmbH from Erkner is now promising farmers from the Steinhöfel community income independent of traditional agriculture. Double-use photovoltaic systems are to be built on low-yield soils. Means: On the one hand, solar energy is generated by the higher-placed modules. On the other hand, the areas below can still be used for agriculture.

Trees shield systems
The aim is to create a climate park that is spread over several areas. The systems should stand outside the field of vision and be shielded by hedges or rows of trees. The operator expects a total output of over 500 megawatts. This would make the future project one of the largest in Brandenburg. The community representatives are aware of the importance of the project and see a great opportunity for rural areas. They unanimously decided to initiate the necessary changes to the development plan and the land use plan in the individual districts. “The project is a huge opportunity for our company. We have long been looking for land use that is independent of the weather and offers financial security, ”says Benjamin Meise, Managing Director of Fürstenwalder Agrarprodukte GmbH. "Many farmers are up to their necks". Benjamin Meise has already selected abandoned or low-yield areas for the climate park.

Set-aside areas or low-yield soils are built on with modules.

The OderSpree district farmers' association also takes the view that photovoltaic systems belong on roofs, commercial and special buildings as well as conversion areas. For free-field systems, primarily non-agricultural areas are to be used. "In the case of agro-photovoltaic systems, on the other hand, the areas used for agriculture are not lost and can continue to be cultivated," says district manager Dr. Karsten Lorenz. In his opinion, the planned system in Steinhöfel should therefore be seen more as a pilot system in which several farmers have come together to test the new type of management using photovoltaics on very low-yield locations in terms of economy and profitability.
For Sunfarming from Erkner, the solar park on the planned scale is a pilot project.

SUNfarming successfully completed seven new projects in the auction system. The latest projects are located in the provinces of Lower Silesia, Greater Poland, Lodz and Lublin. These are three 1-megawatt solar parks erected in the Lask district of Lódz, as well as four 1-megawatt investments in the provinces of Dolnoslaskie and Lubelskie. In line with the auction commitments, all seven solar parks started producing energy in June.

"We are happy about another 7 megawatts of clean energy for Poland. We thank all involved for the efficient and professional cooperation. With a planned PV capacity of 1.2 GW by 2020 with currently only about 360 MW of installed capacity, Poland represents an important future market for us, "said Martin Tauschke, Managing Director of SUNfarming GmbH and SUNfarming Polska sp.zoo.. "Further,we were able to secure 35 megawatt solar parks during the auction process in November; the planned investments are to be completed by the end of 2019 / beginning of 2020. However, we do not want to rely only on the Polish auction process, but also rely on PPA's (Power Purchase Agreements) for the development of larger projects, "explains Martin Tauschke.

The Polish auctioning system of procurement and an internal policy based on renewable energies allow SUNfarming as a medium-sized company to support the expansion of renewable energies and to make profitable investments in Poland. SUNfarming started the construction of the first 4 megawatt solar parks in Poland at the end of December 2018. By winning the tender, all PV parks benefit from a 15-year "contract for differences" with the Polish Energy Agency URE, which guarantees a fixed feed-in tariff for each kWh produced by paying the difference to the market price.

Photovoltaics is becoming increasingly important among renewable energy sources in Poland as it is the cheapest energy that can be obtained with existing technologies. In addition, the use of fallow land and soils with low soil quality spares agricultural arable land.

The municipalities of Reisdorf, Wegleben, Wolmirsleben, Harzgerode, Hennickendorf and Zahna are committed to sustainability with the construction of solar energy systems, thus making a valuable contribution to a regional energy supply. The plants were partly completed in November or EEG compliant completed until 31th of decembre this year, the grid connection is a short time later.
Each 750 kWp plant supplies clean and green electricity for more than 240 households. The CO2 savings per plant are 440,000 kg / year, on average as many as 165 middle-class cars (8l / 100km) emit per year.

"Our range of investors spans the entire breadth, from project development to service and monitoring, all from one source. We have developed a unique quality assurance system for banks and investors. Our PV components are based exclusively on high-quality materials. In addition to the certification by the TÜV Rheinland and the Photovoltaikinstitut Berlin, SUNfarming experts for quality assurance check the module factories unannounced and monitor the production for all technical components according to a particularly strict system.
An average of 7% additional capacity from our systems over the past few years confirms the premium quality of our components, "explains Martin Tauschke, SUNfarming Managing Director.

In the municipalities of Wolmirsleben, Wegeleben and Hennickendorf in Saxony-Anhalt, 750 kWp were ever realised on former landfill sites, a further 750 kWp were completed in Harzgerode in the district of Märkisch Oderland as a free-field plant.

"Every year the four plants together produce proud 3.2 million kilowatt-kilowatts of electricity. This is enough to supply electricity from solar energy for about 900 households over 30 years. 11,000 built-in SUNfarming quality modules ensure a CO2 saving of 1,700 tonnes per year", explains Martin Hinneburg SUNfarming head of sales and project calculation.

Landfills are as sites for Solar Park as created, no shading, conveniently located and the network connection in the immediate vicinity. Administration and municipal policy advocated a leasing of the area and the development of a photovoltaic system since other uses are often not to be reconciled with the context of a former landfill.
In addition to the sustainable generation of energy, the solar parks have additional financial benefits for the counties, which has an impact on the costs of the citizens.
Read more about the SUNfarming Own-Electricity-Concept for municipalities