Highways are opening up for solar in Baden-Württemberg

Regional authorities have identified 260 roadside areas suitable for solar farms; so they are looking for partners

On Tuesday, authorities in the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg announced that roadside lots could be turned into photovoltaic plants very soon. State authorities have identified around 260 locations that can be developed by energy providers.

These roadside properties include land, but also noise walls, small areas around access roads and road embankments. The estimated output of these locations, if they were to all be developed, would be around 122 gigawatt-hours - equivalent to the annual consumption of 35,000 three-person households.

Authorities have decided to create a registry for all the available spaces and are now extending a hand to the energy sector, as well as an offer of partnership to install renewable energy.

Great interest

According to a statement by the government, there has been a growing interest among energy providers to use these types of spaces for green energy. Since February 2022, the companies have submitted over 600 inquiries about different locations.

However, only 26 have received a positive answer from authorities. This is because most of the locations were not public property. Yet, this has prompted a response and now, with the help of road maintenance authorities, the state has compiled a list with all 260 available locations.

Most are in the district of Stuttgart (85), followed by the administrative districts of Karlsruhe (74), Tübingen (71) and Freiburg (26). Now interested parties can approach the Road Construction Administration

The offer is aimed at municipalities, municipal utility companies, citizen cooperatives, project developers and private individuals alike. Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann was quoted in an official statement explaining that the goal is to get as many operators as possible to take part in the green energy transition.