Solar Energy Development in North Rhine-Westphalia: A Slight Downtrend in 2024

Recently, North Rhine-Westphalia's Renewable Energy Association (LEE NRW) released their evaluation of new solar energy installations in the region, captured on the market master data register. As per their report, the expansion of photovoltaic installations in NRW in 2024 accounted for 203,316 solar panels, delivering a total output of 2,185 Megawatts (MW). This performance fell marginally short of the region's groundbreaking record from the previous year when 220,283 installations electrified the grid with 2,262 MW. Nationally, NRW ranks second, only surpassed by Bavaria in solar energy development and closely followed by Baden-Württemberg, with a lead of a meager 5 MW. Across Germany, the previous year's photovoltaic expansion reached 17 Gigawatts.

Unyielding energy prices, coupled with the desire for energy independence from both citizens and commercial entities, are driving the continued high demand for solar energy, says the LEE NRW. 85% of the installed capacity in the past year was designated for rooftop installations—an indication of people’s craving for personal solar systems. Approximately 85,000 new balcony power plants corroborate this trend. “These figures indicate the resolve of NRW residents to actively participate in the energy transition," says LEE NRW Manager, Maximilian Feldes.

NRW Solar Energy Development per Capita in 2024, at an All-Time High in Titz

An analysis by LEE NRW of the market master data register for specific cities reveals noteworthy solar energy developments in several municipalities over the past year. Among larger NRW cities, Cologne saw an additional 46.2 MW, Dortmund 45.7 MW, and Lippstadt 32.3 MW. Similar trends were observed in small and medium-sized municipalities throughout 2024. Using a metric of the amount of solar power installed per capita, Titz led the way (2.2 Kilowatt/citizen), followed by Nieheim (2.17 kW/citizen) and Niederzier (1.16 kW/citizen). This was the first time the LEE NRW analyzed solar development data covering all 396 NRW municipalities.

However, the development of more efficient (and hence more cost-effective) photovoltaic open-space installations has been comparatively insubstantial. Only about 7.5 percent of the newly installed capacity in the past year belonged to this sector—amounting to just five percent of the total NRW solar output. Just Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin record lower quotas among German states. By 2030, it is expected that the installed solar power capacity should ramp up to 215,000 Megawatts, with building and open-space photovoltaic installations each accounting for 50% of the new installations.

Policies to Bolster the Development of Open-Area Photovoltaic Installations

To foster the development of open-space photovoltaic installations, the solar industry representative outlines a series of initiatives that the state government should undertake and which LEE NRW supports:

To compensate for the higher solar radiation values in southern Germany, the state government should lobby for a location-specific compensation model in the Federal Council, similar to the one in place for wind energy. The wind sector has a so-called 'correction factor' to offset the higher wind conditions in the north.

Reinstating the currently suspended state aid program, “progres.NRW”, which supported open-space projects, could also provide a near-term boost. Prior to the funding being discontinued, project developers could receive up to 20% of their investment costs or amaximum of 500,000 Euros for their solar project.

The state would also do well to provide a guidebook for municipalities to standardize and simplify project approval processes. Given that the percentage of open-area PV in NRW is not high, many municipalities lack experience approving such projects. The consequences are disparate approval requirements, such as fire protection, which might complicate project planning.