German Naturstrom to sell power from support-free solar parks

Green energy provider Naturstrom has said it will provide households directly with power from new solar parks built without support from the renewables' surcharge (EEG). Naturstrom has concluded several power purchase agreements (PPA) to receive electricity from such parks, one of which is a 11.5-year contract with the German subsidiary of Norwegian power supplier Statkraft for a park in Bavaria with a capacity of 20 megawatt peak (MWp). Power supply is set to begin in May 2020. The park will provide power for more than 6,300 households a year, writes Handelsblatt. "Supplying our customers directly with green electricity from our own plants without EEG subsidies has long been an important strategic goal in the expansion of our power plant park", said Naturstrom board member Oliver Hummel. It shows that "the energy transition is working", he added. In 2019, energy company EnBW announced it would build Germany's largest PV park - also without support from the EEG. With a capacity of 180 MW, the solar park in Brandenburg will provide power for around 50,000 households and is set to go online later in the year.

With 1.7 million solar arrays, Germany has the most installed solar installations of all European countries, writes Handelsblatt. After a rapid decline around 2010, the sector has recently regained confidence, partly driven by the government's climate package, which promised a removal of the current cap on support at 52 gigawatts (GW) – a capacity level expected to be reached soon.