Published on: April 21, 2025 / update from: April 21, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
The “Lower Hurst” solar park on the A% is an inter-municipal solar park project by Sinzheim, Baden-Baden and Hügelsheim-creative image: Xpert.digital
Green power along the highway: Solar park project Lower Hurst started
Sustainability united: Sinzheim, Hügelsheim and Baden-Baden rely on solar energy
In an exemplary inter-municipal cooperation, the municipalities of Sinzheim and Hügelsheim, together with the city of Baden-Baden, develop a large-scale solar park along the A5 motorway. With a planned performance of over 7 megawatts, the “Lower Hurst” project is an important regional energy transition project. The municipalities involved have bundled their strength to invest together in renewable energies, with the start of construction for 2025/2026. The cooperation is supported by local energy suppliers and is intended to generate almost 8 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.
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Project structure and participation of the municipalities
The “Lower Hurst” solar park is designed as a joint project to advance the regional energy transition. The participation structure shows a strong municipal anchorage that puts local added value in the foreground.
The municipality of Sinzheim plays a central role and, together with its community unit GWS Sinzheim, participates in the project company with a total of 49 percent, with 34 percent being held directly by the municipality. Mayor Erik Ernst emphasizes the strategic importance of this participation based on several pillars, including leasing community -owned areas and indirect participation gains in the project company.
Stadtwerke Baden-Baden are also involved in the project as an important partner. Managing Director Helmut Oehler explains that this investment in renewable energies strengthens the image of Stadtwerke as a pioneer in the area of sustainable energy supply and makes a major contribution to the urban climate protection concept. The city of Baden-Baden sees the project a way to achieve its sustainability goals and at the same time act economically.
The municipality of Hügelsheim contributes to the project by leasing its properties for the solar park. Mayor Kerstin Cee emphasizes the positive aspect of this cooperation: "The municipality of Hügelsheim is proud to make a significant contribution to the realization of the solar park project through the leasing of our properties. These lease supports our community and at the same time promote the sustainable energy future".
Support from regional energy suppliers
The implementation and project development is supported by Badenovaerneuerbaren GmbH, a company with experience in municipal projects in the field of wind power and photovoltaics. Managing Director Michael Klein recognizes the clear commitment of the municipal councils and sees the project a strong sign of inter -municipal cooperation. He also emphasizes the challenges in the region: "The possibilities for photovoltaics are limited in our region, so it is all the more gratifying that this project pulls everyone involved in one strand and that we can make a valuable contribution to the generation of local renewable electricity".
Technical details and environmental impacts
The “Lower Hurst” solar park is designed as a powerful system, which should make a significant contribution to regional energy supply. The technical parameters illustrate the scope of this ambitious project.
With an installed user output of 7.434 MWP, the solar park is built on a total area of 7 hectares. This size enables an annual electricity output of around 7.85 million kilowatt hours, which corresponds to a significant contribution to local energy supply. For comparison: The largest solar park in Baden-Württemberg, which is located near Heilbronn, can supply around 24,000 households with electricity.
The environmental impact of the solar park is remarkable: by generation of electricity from renewable sources, around 5,960 tons of CO₂ emissions can be avoided annually. This saving contributes significantly to the reduction of the ecological footprint of the municipalities involved and supports the regional and national climate protection goals.
Location choice along the A5
The choice of the location along the A5 motorway follows a nationwide strategy that is supported by legal adjustments. The amendment of §35 BauGB from January 1, 2023 facilitates the establishment of open space photovoltaic systems along motorways up to a distance of 200 meters. This regulation makes such locations particularly attractive for solar park projects.
Motorway systems offer several advantages for the installation of solar parks. They are already pre -contaminated by traffic and noise, which means that usage conflicts can be minimized with other interests such as agriculture or local recreation. The areas along motorways are therefore considered so -called “favor areas” locations that are particularly suitable for renewable energy projects due to their preload.
Timetable and current project status
The “Lower Hurst” solar park is currently in the planning phase, with the latest press release of April 17, 2025 reflecting the current level of development. The schedule for the project provides for construction to start in 2025/2026, which indicates that the concrete construction work could begin in the near future.
The current developments show that the project is on the right track. The recently published press release from the Sinzheim municipal works underlines the commitment of all parties involved to advance the project. Public communication to the project indicates a transparent approach that also takes into account the integration of citizens in the process.
In the context of regional solar park developments, it should be noted that several similar projects are currently progressing along the A5 in the region. In Bietigheim, for example, one of the largest solar parks in Baden-Württemberg, which is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2026, is being built on an area of 22 hectares. A solar park near the A5 with a total output of around 4.1 MW was recently inaugurated in other communities such as Ötigheim. These parallel developments underline the dynamics when expanding renewable energies in the region.
Comparable projects in the region
The “Lower Hurst” solar park is part of a growing number of solar park projects along the A5. There is already another project in Sinzheim itself: Trianel GmbH, as a project developer, is building a PV system with 5.2 megawatts on the area of the Waldhof as a project developer. The approval process for this project should be completed at the end of 2023, with a planned construction start in late 2024 or early 2025.
In July 2023, the EnBW started building a solar park on the A5 near Bruchsal-Untergrombach, which was built on a 3.8 hectare area and has an integrated battery memory. Such battery stores increase the efficiency of the solar systems, since the current generated electricity can be fed into the network more flexibly and better over the day.
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Economic and social importance
The inter -municipal solar park project “Lower Hurst” is of a complex importance for the municipalities involved beyond the pure energy generation. It is not only an investment in renewable energies, but is also a model for successful inter -municipal cooperation.
The economic advantages for the communities involved are diverse. The municipality of Sinzheim benefits through direct participation gains in the project company and through lease income from community -owned areas. For Hügelsheim, the lease income means an additional financial source that strengthens the municipal budget. This local added value is an important argument for the acceptance of such projects in the population.
Mayor Erik Ernst von Sinzheim describes the project as an “inter -municipal lighthouse project” that serves as a model for future sustainable energy projects and shows “how climate protection and economic foresight can go hand in hand”. This connection of ecological and economic goals makes the project particularly attractive for municipal decision -makers.
Contribution to the regional energy transition
The “Lower Hurst” solar park makes a concrete contribution to the implementation of the energy transition in the region. With its annual electricity production of 7.85 million kilowatt hours, it contributes to reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. This is particularly relevant in the context of the current geopolitical situation and the endeavor to become more independent of foreign energy deliveries.
In Baden-Württemberg, the proportion of renewable energies in electricity generation is around 41 percent, whereby photovoltaics is the largest share of renewable energy sources with a good 14 percent. The country has set itself the goal of making two percent of the country area available for wind power and photovoltaics in order to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and achieve the climate protection goals. Projects such as the “Lower Hurst” solar park contribute directly to the achievement of these goals.
Local cooperation, global benefits: the Lower Hurst solar park as a model
The solar park project “Lower Hurst” on the A5 demonstrates impressively how inter -municipal cooperation can contribute to the success of the energy transition. The municipalities of Sinzheim and Hügelsheim as well as the city of Baden-Baden have developed a model that combines ecological responsibility with economic pragmatism and puts local added value in the foreground.
With a planned performance of 7.434 MWP and an annual electricity production of 7.85 million kilowatt hours, the solar park will make a significant contribution to the regional power supply from renewable sources. The avoided CO₂ emissions of almost 6,000 tons per year underline the ecological importance of the project.
The successful cooperation between different municipal actors could serve as a model for similar projects in the region and beyond. Particularly noteworthy is the integration of various municipal energy suppliers and the transparent communication of the project, which contributes to acceptance among the population.
With the planned start of construction in 2025/2026, the project is part of a number of solar park developments along the A5, which together represent an important step towards a sustainable energy supply in the region. The use of areas along traffic routes such as the A5 also shows an intelligent approach to the use of land, since existing infrastructures are used here and usage conflicts can be minimized.
The “Lower Hurst” project is a concrete example of how municipal commitment and regional cooperation can advance the energy transition from below - a development that is essential for the achievement of overarching climate protection goals.
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