BayWa r.e. has sold five solar parks to Encavis Infrastructure Fund II. The Fund’s investment advisor, Encavis Asset Management AG (Encavis AM), is part of the listed Encavis AG, one of Europe's leading independent power producers (IPPs).
The Barth III-VI projects on the premises of the Stralsund-Barth Airport and the Seifertshofen solar park between Ulm and Augsburg have a total capacity of around 35 MWp. With the exception of Barth V, all the projects are in receipt of a subsidy from the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Barth V, on the other hand, generates 8.8 MW without any subsidy and is consequently one of the first solar parks in Germany outside the scope of the EEG.
Matthias Taft, Member of the Board responsible for the energy business, BayWa AG, said that “A year ago we built Europe’s first subsidy-free solar park in sun-soaked Spain. Today, we are able to prove that subsidy-free solar electricity generation is competitive in Germany. We experienced a great interest from potential commercial and industrial electricity consumers, as well as from investors, and we are delighted to partner with Encavis.”
“Ground-mounted solar installations contribute significantly to the implementation of a cost-effective energy transition in Germany. New mid- and large-scale installations are already the cheapest way of producing electricity in Europe. Furthermore, as a recent study shows, they help to improve biodiversity in the country.”
Karsten Mieth, CEO of Encavis AM said that “With the completion of this acquisition, we are continuing our positive and close collaboration with BayWa r.e. We are particularly pleased that with Barth V we purchased a milestone project for the fund, and consequently play our part in a new phase of renewable electricity generation.”
BayWa r.e. put the Barth V solar park into operation in October. With a total output of 8.8 MWp, this plant is currently the largest solar park in Germany to work without any subsidies. The generated electricity will be marketed through a five-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the in-house BayWa r.e. Clean Energy Sourcing GmbH (CLENS) energy trading subsidiary.
The project benefits from previous projects on the same site. As cable routes and network connections had already been planned at an early stage. The optimised planning and system design by BayWa r.e., as well as the close collaboration with the land owner and the local communities, has also helped to realise this project. The project is being financed through an attractive non-recourse loan from the UmweltBank with a credit period of 20 years.
Further information on the Barth V solar park can be found at: en/solar/solar-park-barth-v/
Overview of projects sold:
• Barth III with an output of 9.9 MWp commissioned in February 2017
• Barth IV with an output of 9.2 MWp commissioned in September 2019
• Barth V with an output of 8.8 MWp commissioned in October 2019
• Barth VI with an output of 0.75 MWp commissioned in September 2019
• Seifertshofen with an output of 6.5 MWp commissioned in August 2019
