Tailwind for Germany: RWE accelerates green power expansion
- Investment worth billions, new jobs created, seven branches opened
- Focus on project development of onshore wind and ground-mounted photovoltaics
- Start of construction for further wind farm with 17.1 megawatt capacity
Essen, 31 May 2022
RWE is moving ahead with the expansion of renewable energies in Germany: RWE has already significantly strengthened its team for the onshore and solar business, which has a very regional focus. Of the 200 vacancies, around 50 have already been filled by new colleagues. They will intensively drive forward the project development of onshore wind power and ground-mounted photovoltaics (PV). The company has also opened seven offices in Germany since the beginning of the year. The new offices are located in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Mainz, Stuttgart, Augsburg as well as in Leipzig and Rostock. They complement the existing company locations in Hamburg, Hanover and Essen (headquarters). RWE thus draws a first positive interim balance of its “Tailwind for Germany” initiative presented in winter.
“RWE sees particular growth potential in this country. After all, Germany is the only industrialized country in which both nuclear energy and coal can be replaced. In onshore wind and PV alone, we see potential for RWE to add around 5 gigawatts by 2030. To this end, we are on the lookout for areas throughout the country that are suitable for wind and solar power plants,” explains Katja Wünschel.
Start of construction for another wind farm in the home market
RWE has started the construction of a 17.1-megawatt wind farm: In Grevenbroich, the company is erecting three turbines with a hub height of 164 meters and a rated output of 5.7 megawatts (MW) each - making the turbines among the most powerful in RWE's fleet in this country. Once commissioned in December this year, the North Rhine-Westphalian wind farm will be able to generate enough green electricity to meet the needs of around 12,000 households. In addition, RWE will soon commission the Bedburg A 44n wind farm (28.5 MW), a joint project with the town of Bedburg.
As one of the leading companies in the field of renewable energies, RWE is also focusing on the development of solar projects. Recently, the company was awarded a contract for a photovoltaic plant with connected battery storage in the Rhineland region as part of an innovation tender. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, the company plans to implement renewable energy projects with a capacity of 1 gigawatt by 2030. RWE is planning an investment of 4 billion euros for this.
“The expansion of renewable energies must be driven forward decisively and quickly. Only together can we master the Herculean task of the 'energy turnaround'. RWE is ready to make its contribution. Our aspiration: We want to implement every renewable project possible in our home market. To strengthen our local presence, we have opened seven new offices and already hired 50 new colleagues. This decade, we will invest up to 15 billion euros gross in climate protection in this country.” - Katja Wünschel, CEO Onshore Wind and Solar Europe & Australia, RWE Renewables
