Mecklenburg. Rural tranquillity. A major project in the energy revolution is set to launch between villages and fields: the Tramm-Göthen solar park, between Ludwigslust and Schwerin. Covering an area almost the same size as 350 football pitches, the installation will be one of the biggest in Germany. The final preparations are underway. “With a little luck we will be able to use our own energy to light up our Christmas tree,” said project manager Thomas Heinz of global solar specialists Belectric, with a twinkle in his eye.
Huge solar park in Mecklenburg
Soon the sun will
supply electric cars
with clean energy here

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a major project in the energy revolution is set to launch in the form of the Tramm-Göthen solar park. Volkswagen is backing the initiative, to make more clean energy available for electric cars.
From the beginning of 2022, the sun is set to provide the energy required to supply 50,000 households a year here. Installed capacity: 172 megawatts. Volkswagen is backing the project as a reliable industrial consumer, to make more clean energy available for electric cars.

The huge solar park is being implemented by asset manager Luxcara, who specialise in renewable energy. The electricity will be fed to Volkswagen via energy provider RWE.

Coronavirus meant that materials were in short supply on a regular basis. Our mantra was: We’ll get it done anyway.


In general, the project partners value the locals being okay with the solar park – and not just the people, but flora and fauna as well. The goal: the solar park should not reduce the biodiversity, and compared with agricultural use it should even improve it.
Good for the environment
Solar parks like Tramm-Göthen unite environmentally-friendly energy production with the protection of natural habitats. There’s no need to tarmac areas. Noise is avoided. In Belectric’s experience, solar parks can even encourage biodiversity:
- Wild herbs, insects and birds thrive without being disturbed
- Plants can blossom and seed
- Animals can rear their young
- Endangered species find refuge
- Wildflower strips boost the population of honey bees

But why a location in northern Germany? This is down to investor Luxcara. “We set up our solar parks without applying for any subsidies. The days of this only making economic sense in Southern Europe are over,” said Lorenz Hahn of Luxcara. The increasing efficiency and falling prices of solar panels mean that parks in Central Europe and Northern Europe are also economically viable – this is even more true with rising electricity prices.
This is also the case at Tramm-Göthen. An added bonus of the project is its size. “A large park is more cost-effective to plan and build than lots of little ones,” said Hahn.
The days of setting up solar parks without subsidised feed-in tariffs exclusively in Southern Europe are over.


New green energy projects without subsidies only come about when sales are secured. Reliable consumers like Volkswagen are key.

Automobile manufacturers play an important role in the energy revolution when it comes to technology as well. After all, the batteries of electric cars will be an important accumulator for electricity in the future, which can either be used to make journeys with the car, or be fed back into the grid when there is high demand. “This means that there will be a huge storage capacity available, which increases flexibility and stabilises electricity demand,” says Neuber. Volkswagen is set to launch this technology – bidirectional charging.