A number of solar farms are currently in operation or under construction in Inden, Hambach and Garzweiler. The plants will have a capacity of 100 MW in total, with integrated state-of-the-art battery storage. The solar farms in the Rhenish lignite area benefit from an optimal energy infrastructure with almost unlimited feed-in capacity already in place. In terms of the strategy for approval being granted for the projects, significantly simplified planning and zoning procedures are also an advantage.

RWE indeland Solar Farm as a lighthouse project for the region was commissioned after only 20 weeks of construction. RWE invested 11 million euros in the 1.4-km wide plant with its 26,500 modules. The project was in planning for just over two years before ground was broken – considerably less time than with similar projects in Germany. RWE is now continuing this success story with a number of further solar projects. In the Hambach lignite opencast mine, RWE operates a photovoltaics plant with integrated battery storage system. The company has installed around 22,000 solar modules at the RWE Neuland Solar Farm, enough to supply more than 3,100 households with green electricity. Right next to it, the RWE Neuland 1 solar park has been constructed, which consists of around 65,000 solar modules. In total, the RWE Neuland solar parks in the Hambach opencast mine can supply 14,500 households with green electricity.

RWE is also developing solar projects in the area around the opencast mines. One example of this is the Bedburg solar farm, which was built on a recultivated area along the A44 motorway and started generating green electricity in September 2024.