Energy farm to help German municipality go CO2-free by 2030

Source: · SMART CITIES WORLD · | July 6, 2020

Green Solar and Siemens Energy have signed an agreement to develop a concept for Herzogenrath in Aachen that could make the city a national and international leader in the energy transition.

What the energy supply in Herzogenrath could look like from 2030 onwards

Green Solar and Siemens Energy have signed a cooperation agreement to develop a concept to make the German municipality of Herzogenrath in Aachen CO2-free by 2030.

It marks a major milestone in the planning, building, and operating of an energy farm in the grounds of the gravel and sand company Nivelsteiner Sandwerke in Herzogenrath, which is aiming to cover the city’s energy demand.

Viable concept

Based on this agreement, the partners will develop an economically viable concept aimed at seeking available funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the federal German government, and the EU for the long-standing mining region between Aachen, Germany, and the Netherlands.

“Subject to sufficient funding, the energy farm could be operated by an operating company still to be established by Green Solar,” said Green Solar managing directors, Franz-Josef Türck-Hövener and Charles Russel in a joint statement.

They added: “Not only would the Herzogenrath Energy Farm be an important, sustainable step toward successful structural change for the region, but it would also make the city known both nationally and internationally as a forerunner and technology leader of the transition to a new energy mix.”

Siemens Energy offers a wide range of flexible, decentralised energy solutions, such as balancing energy supply and demand with battery storage systems for supporting transmission grids, and power-to-X technology for generating hydrogen.

Building on an existing solar farm operated by Green Solar, the concept involves, among other things, expanding the generation of power from solar energy as well as building a number of wind turbines. The power generated from renewable sources will be stored and converted into electricity during times when no energy is produced from sun and wind, and supplied to homes in Herzogenrath, a city of 46,000 residents.