Construction starts in Rhenish lignite area – RWE builds Aldenhoven wind farm

A new wind farm is being built in the Rhenish lignite area. The ground is being prepared, the construction site is being set up and road works are beginning. RWE is erecting six wind turbines with a total output of 34.2 megawatts (MW) on recultivated areas of the Inden opencast mine in the Düren district. The company was awarded the contract for the project by the Federal Network Agency in December last year.

Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia: “Aldenhoven is another example of how well the energy transition is progressing in the Rhenish lignite area. The expansion of renewables has accelerated significantly in recent years. I would like to thank the authorities, the municipality and other local stakeholders for their constructive cooperation. This is what has enabled us to start construction so quickly.”

Sustainable infrastructure

The choice of location on recultivated land is not the only special aspect. The wind turbines in Aldenhoven will be connected to RWE Power’s transformer substation in the Inden opencast mine and feed the electricity generated into the power grid via the existing infrastructure. Once they are commissioned in the summer of 2025, the plants will produce enough green electricity to cover the calculated annual demand of around 24,000 households.

RWE already operates several wind and solar farms on recultivation sites – including the “RWE indeland Solarpark” at the Inden opencast mine. Since 2022, the plant with 26,500 solar modules and integrated battery storage has been supplying more than 3,500 households with climate-neutral electricity. RWE plans to implement wind and photovoltaic projects with a total output of around 1,000 MW by 2030 in North Rhine-Westphalia alone and is looking for suitable land for this purpose. Landowners can find more information at www.rwe.com/landverpachten.