The largest photovoltaic farm in Europe was launched. Over a million modules on 500 hectares

Uruchomiono największą farmę fotowoltaiczną w Europie. Ponad milion modułów na 500 hektarach

The largest photovoltaic park in Germany and all of Europe has just been connected to the grid in Witznitz on Lake Hainer, in the district of Leipzig in Saxony. The installation consists of 1.1 million solar modules with a total capacity of 605 megawatts, reports Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR).

Cosmic investment momentum

The facility covers an area of 500 hectares, which is equivalent to approximately 700 football pitches. According to the operators, the area is so large that the photovoltaic farm can even be seen in satellite photos from space. The park was built on the reclaimed areas of a former open-pit lignite mine.

The Witznitz Energy Park was built by MoveOn Energy, which is also the operator of the installation. In addition to 1.1 million photovoltaic modules, 3,500 inverters and 7,500 modular tables were installed there. A total of 7,500 tons of steel. The total capacity of 605 megawatts will be enough to cover the average annual needs of 200,000 four-person households.

Energy and recreation

The energy generated by the park's solar modules is fed directly to the 50 Hz high-voltage lines via a purpose-built 380 kV substation. According to MoveOn Energy, the farm in Witznitz will save over 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from conventional sources each year.

The energy park is part of a broader plan to restore the closed mine. Another 160 hectares of land were planted with trees and bushes, and 13 kilometers of hiking, bicycle and horse trails were marked out, which are intended to serve recreation and the development of tourism in the region.