Climate-friendly electricity in the Neckar-Odenwald district
The project
This is another milestone for Mannheim-based energy company MVV's #climatepositive strategy and an important building block for climate-friendly energy supply in the Neckar-Odenwald district: JUWI built an 8.1-megawatt solar park in Osterburken in 2024, which went into operation in September 2024. MVV is the owner and operator of the plant. JUWI will be responsible for technical management.
Climate-friendly electricity for around 2,600 households
With an output of 8.1 megawatts, the Osterburken solar park generates an average of nine million kilowatt hours of climate-friendly electricity per year – enough to power around 2,600 households for a year.
The electricity from the solar park is fed directly into the medium-voltage grid, which is only about 500 meters away, via underground cables. The solar park is located on an approximately eight-hectare field that is designated as an agriculturally disadvantaged area due to its low yields. Prior to construction, JUWI conducted archaeological investigations, during which several urns from the Bronze Age were discovered and secured.
By 2030, MVV will increase its own electricity generation from renewable energies to 2,000 megawatts. To this end, we are increasingly retaining domestic solar and wind farms developed by our subsidiary JUWI within the Group. The addition of the Osterburken solar farm to our own generation portfolio is, therefore, a further step in MVV's electricity transition.
Flora and fauna in the solar park
The solar park is to be seeded with regional seeds in September so that a species-rich flora and fauna can develop. The solar park site also features a biotope, which was expanded during construction work. The part of the facility visible from the road will be replanted with a double row of wild hedges. A colorful fallow field is also planned near the park as a compensation area, which will specifically benefit skylarks.
Residents and the city benefit
To ensure that local residents can also benefit from the project, JUWI and MVV have launched a fixed-interest savings plan in cooperation with Volksbank Kirnau. More than 350 customers had subscribed to this plan by mid-May 2024, when the total volume of €6.2 million was reached.
The town of Osterburken will also benefit from the commissioning of the solar park: through the voluntary municipal levy, it will receive 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity generated, i.e. around €18,000 per year over the next 20 years, which will be available for municipal purposes.
Second solar project by MVV and JUWI in the Neckar-Odenwald district
The solar park in Osterburken is already the second in the Neckar-Odenwald district to be built by JUWI and added to MVV's own generation portfolio. In 2023, a combined project consisting of ground-mounted photovoltaics and battery operation went online in Seckach, just a few kilometers away. Hybrid solutions such as the one already operated by MVV in Seckach are still a rarity in Germany.