Floating power plant in a former mine. Right on our border

Germany will build a floating photovoltaic power plant right next to the Polish border. The farm will be built on the site of a former lignite opencast mine.

The Germans will build a floating photovoltaic power plant six kilometers from the Polish border, near Cottbus. The facility is to be built on the artificial Cottbuser Ostsee reservoir, which was built on the site of a former lignite opencast mine.

Journalists of PV Magazine informed about the fact that permission was given for the construction of a floating solar farm on the Cottbuser Ostsee reservoir. The solar power plant, which will be built in the Lusatian basin, will have a capacity of 21 MW. Project companies Leag and EPNE said the construction process could begin in spring 2023.

– Although the floating solar system on Cottbus Ostsee with an area of ​​1.9 thousand square meters hectares is to take up less than 1 percent. surface of the lake, it will make a significant contribution to the environmentally friendly power supply of the port district of Cottbus, said Fabian von Oesen, head of the renewable energy department in Leag.

The facility may be expanded in the future. We are talking about the possibility of adding wind turbines and heat pumps to it.

– As part of the project, we combine CO2-neutral energy production with the protection of the ecosystem and the interests of society. There are many other lakes in Lusatia, created at the site of the former opencast lignite mines, where we would like to run floating photovoltaic installations. In this way, we gain additional space for GigawattFactory and energy transformation – commented Dominique Guillou from EPNE.

GigawattFactory is a project for the energy transformation of Lusatia. Both companies intend to invest EUR 10 billion in the development of the energy sector in this region. The money is to be spent on the development of solar and wind projects.