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The anniversary celebration to mark the 20th anniversary of SUNfarming was an outstanding event. Founder Peter Schrum and co-founder Martin Tauschke celebrated this significant milestone together with the SUNfarming team and guests from business and politics under a balmy summer sky, directly on the banks of the Spree.

Greetings from Minister Steinbach

A special highlight of the evening was the speech by Prof. Dr Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy of the State of Brandenburg, who personally congratulated and conveyed warm greetings from Minister President Dietmar Woidke. Minister Steinbach emphasised the impressive development of SUNfarming over the last two decades and highlighted the company's important role in the energy transition and for the state of Brandenburg.

Thanks to all guests

Peter Schrum and Martin Tauschke thanked everyone who accompanied SUNfarming on this trip. ‘What an evening! Many thanks to everyone who made this milestone so special,’ says Schrum.

The celebration offered a successful mix of a relaxed summer party and a worthy anniversary, during which the importance of SUNfarming as an innovator in the field of renewable energies was honoured. An evening that perfectly rounded off the last 20 years of the company and looked to a promising, renewable future.

Steinhöfel, 28 August 2024 - SUNfarming GmbH (the leading developer and investor for agrivoltaic systems in Germany) is working with SPIE (the independent European market leader for multi-technical services in the energy and communications sectors) to build the substation for green electricity from Europe's largest agrivoltaic project ‘Klimapark Steinhöfel’. This extends across eight districts and will connect a total installed capacity of up to 753 megawatt peak (MWp) to the grid. The plant with a total of four transformers will ensure that the energy generated is reliably fed into the existing high-voltage grid of the regional distribution grid operator E.DIS via 110-kilovolt cable systems.

The Steinhöfel climate park is a lighthouse project in the photovoltaic sector and combines sustainable energy generation with genuine agricultural production on an area of around 500 hectares. Innovative designs and technologies enable efficient and sustainable dual use of the agricultural land with light and rainwater management under the DIN SPEC-compliant bifacial glass-glass PV modules at a minimum height of 2.10 metres. This dual utilisation has lasting positive effects on animal welfare and husbandry, biodiversity, CO2 reduction, groundwater protection and agricultural yield security on the sandy soils in this region, which have been difficult to cultivate up to now. SUNfarming developed the agricultural concept for the Steinhöfel climate park in close cooperation with an agricultural consultancy for local farms and local farmers and brought it to the planning permission stage within a four-year development period. Once the agri-PV systems have been built, the agricultural land will be used as perennial fodder production areas and as temporary portion pastures for calf and heifer rearing.

SPIE is providing all services for this project, from planning permission and implementation planning to the entire procurement of materials for the substation, primary and secondary planning, installation and commissioning. ‘With our technical solutions, we enable the integration of renewable energies and thus create the infrastructural prerequisites for the energy transition and a climate-friendly future,’ says Burkhard Sager, Head of the High Voltage division at SPIE Germany & Central Europe. ‘We are pooling our decades of experience to realise this complex project,’ adds Hannes Weinreich, Head of the Green Substations department in SPIE Germany & Central Europe's High Voltage division. ‘The main challenge here is the tight schedule, in which many work steps have to dovetail precisely for a project of this magnitude to succeed

‘The Steinhöfel Climate Park is the largest SUNfarming pioneer project, which we have successfully developed in just under four years with the statute resolutions in all districts,’ explains Martin Tauschke, co-founder and Managing Director of SUNfarming. ‘We can only realise this ambitious project thanks to the very good and close cooperation with the municipality of Steinhöfel, the citizens of the region, the Oder-Spree district, our agricultural landlords and our technical partners.’ SUNfarming has been developing and researching its own Agri-PV systems for more than 10 years. ‘Our agri-PV solutions convince farmers and investors alike,’ explains Edith Brasche, Managing Director of Project Development at SUNfarming. ‘We are currently developing several gigawatts of agrivoltaic systems - for use in crop and fruit growing as well as for keeping suckler cows and calves, poultry and fallow deer. The Steinhöfel climate park is part of our research to prove that agrivoltaic systems protect the environment, nature and groundwater against climate change and bring real added value to rural regions,’ says Brasche.
Work on the substation is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2025, with commissioning planned for the second quarter of 2026. The first parts of the Agri-PV park in Steinhöfel will be connected directly to the grid via the substation once it is commissioned.

As a driver of the energy transition, E.DIS Netz GmbH is proud to contribute its expertise and support to this pioneering project. As a long-standing supporter and driver of the energy transition in the region, E.DIS Netz GmbH is significantly involved in providing the grid connection at the Steinhöfel substation, which serves as the hub for feeding green electricity from Europe's largest agri-solar project. ‘Our partnership in this project underlines our ongoing commitment to developing innovative solutions for a sustainable energy supply,’ emphasises Petra Kortenkamp, Head of Individual Customers at E.DIS Netz GmbH. ‘For over two years, we have been intensively involved in the planning and realisation of the technical grid connection, which enables the renewable energy generated to be efficiently integrated into the grid. Our focus here is on a forward-looking and secure energy infrastructure.’ E.DIS Netz GmbH sees this project not only as a significant investment in the regional energy industry, but also as an important step towards a climate-neutral future. ‘This project impressively demonstrates how collaboration and technological innovation can pave the way for a sustainable energy future.
‘This project is an impressive demonstration of how collaboration and technological innovation can pave the way for a sustainable energy future. We are determined to further strengthen our contribution to the energy transition and to promote and implement innovative projects that drive the energy transition forward,’ adds Petra Kortenkamp.

The forum brought together a variety of companies connected with Schleswig-Holstein Netz AG (SH-Netz) – from pure feeders to battery project developers to municipal representatives. However, the majority of attendees were feeders. The main goal of the forum was to facilitate mutual acquaintance, understand the current situation of SH-Netz, and work together on solutions. Additionally, SH-Netz's plans and roadmap for the coming years and decades were presented, including the future grid development in Schleswig-Holstein.

Some of the exciting information shared during the forum included SH-Netz's ambitious goals for 2024. SH-Netz plans to connect an additional 2000 MW. The three essential components of their target grid are:

1. Grid Coupling Points: Over 20 new 380/110 kV substations with a capacity of around 1 GW
2. 110 kV Overhead Lines: 950 km of new 110 kV overhead lines
3. 110 kV Substations: 100 new 110/20 kV substations

However, grid expansion also brings significant challenges, including long approval times of 2-4 years, skilled labor shortages, material delivery times of over 3 years, and land acquisition times of 1-3 years. Additionally, the planning basis is complex due to unpredictable feeder requests and load fluctuations. In addition to grid expansion, SH-Netz is significantly increasing the number of annual connections. Currently, 104,700 installations are connected to the grid, and a yearly increase of over 50,000 installations is forecasted for 2024-2026.

SUNfarming looks forward to working together with SH-Netz and other partners to successfully implement these ambitious plans and further advance the energy transition in Schleswig-Holstein.

SUNfarming Group's Managing Director Martin Tauschke and Project Developer Heiner Kamper presented the project. The SUNfarming Group combines agriculture and solar power production in this innovative project to promote efficient use of agricultural land and increase energy generation from renewable sources.
The presentation of SUNfarming's agricultural concept generated great interest among the politicians. The project enables the keeping of mother cows, sheep, and chickens, as well as the cultivation of various vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs under the solar modules. SUNfarming will conduct intensive research projects in cooperation with the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V. from Müncheberg to determine the optimal uses for Agri-Solar systems.

Dr. Dietmar Woidke emphasized the importance of Agri-Solar projects for preserving agricultural land and increasing societal acceptance for such innovations.

The government particularly supports the dual use of land for agricultural production combined with solar energy generation. Agri-Solar simultaneously secures food and energy supply for the population.

Our stand proudly presented the innovative SUNfarming Umbrella System, which was developed in close cooperation with our research partner "Esteburg Obstbauzentrum Jork".

Here are some of the highlights:
- Efficient dual use of land: together with fruit growers, we have created a system that enables efficient dual use of agricultural land.

- Preservation of agricultural land status: Our system guarantees 100% preservation of agricultural land status with all tax and financial benefits.

- Especially for sensitive permanent crops: The SUNfarming Umbrella System is specially designed for sensitive permanent crops such as pome fruit, stone fruit, soft fruit and vines, with a particular focus on apples and sweet cherries.

- Protection against yield damage: We offer reliable protection against yield damage caused by precipitation and sunburn.

- Microclimate to reduce water consumption: By creating a favourable microclimate, we help to reduce water consumption.

- Reduction of pesticides: Our system enables a large reduction in crop protection products.

- Higher EEG remuneration for Agri-PV: Comply with DIN SPEC 91434 and benefit from a higher EEG remuneration for Agri-PV.

- Privileged construction of on-farm agri-PV: On-farm agri-PV construction up to 2.5 ha is possible, but only with a building application.

We will be happy to provide you with further information or a non-binding feasibility analysis. Contact our Head of Agri-PV fruit growing, Thomas Reimers, at t.reimers@sunfarming.de or by telephone on +49 (0) 170 29 49 445.

Discover the future of fruit growing with the SUNfarming Umbrella System. We offer customised solutions for your individual needs!

The event was aimed at 90 Master's students from the private university and their professors and teaching staff to familiarise them with the mission of SUNfarming Agri-Solar and to generate international project ideas and export orders.
This guest lecture informed the students about the potential of agrivoltaics in Germany and also looked at the modern solutions that SUNfarming offers in this area.The presentation provided a comprehensive overview of our company, and the numerous questions from students and professors were answered with pleasure.

The great interest shown by the students led to a lively discussion. We not only presented the current status of agrivoltaics, but also provided insights into the concepts we have developed and our experiences from research projects. In addition, we discussed opportunities for internships and student traineeships were discussed and suggestions for scientific collaborative projects.
SUNfarming plans to extend these successful guest lectures to other universities to attract even more students and institutions to the exciting world of agrivoltaics.

Many thanks to Professor Romero and Mr Chougule for the excellent organisation of the event. We appreciate the opportunity to work with SRH Berlin and look forward to future projects.