Along with wind and hydropower, solar energy is one of DB's renewable energy sources, making an active contribution to climate protection.
The new solar plant in Wasbek, Schleswig-Holstein, has been on the grid since April 2023 and is feeding solar power directly into the German rail traction power network for the first time. The plant, which we commissioned with the company ENERPARC, is around 40 hectares in size and is expected to supply around 38 gigawatt hours of renewable power annually.
Since 2021, our energy portfolio contains solar-generated electricity from the new Gaarz solar farm near Plau am See in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The 90 hectar solar park supplies green electricity for our trains for 30 years. And since the beginning of 2024, a further 15 large solar parks spread across the whole of Germany have been supplying Deutsche Bahn with renewable power under six purchase agreements.
This is yet another step we are taking in order to continuously increase the proportion of green electricity in our operations. DB is the largest consumer of renewable power in Germany today. The share of renewable energy in DB´s traction current mix already comes to 69.8%. This will grow to 80% by 2030. By 2038, all of the traction power used by DB will be 100% renewable.
Also our roofs already contribute significantly to helping the environment by harnessing the power of the sun and using it to produce clean electricity. Actually a part of our maintenance depots, stations and storage facilities are equipped with solar energy units. Many more solar plants are currently being planned and will be implemented in the coming years. In 2023, we installed high-performance solar systems at three factory locations in Nuremberg, Duisburg and Karlsruhe. The largest system was installed in Nuremberg with 340 kilowatt peak. It is expected to generate around 315 megawatt hour every year. The plants in Duisburg and Karlsruhe will soon go into operation.
We have also been providing our investors with land and roof spaces where they can install their own solar panels.
