German renewables developer Blue Elephant Energy has signed two long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with the German railway network operator Deutsche Bahn for utility-scale solar PV power projects.
The 13-year deals cover two projects with a cumulative 319MW of nameplate capacity, scheduled to begin operations “by mid-2027”. The 266MW Schafhöfen solar park in Bavaria, southern Germany, will comprise around 370,000 solar PV modules and feature a dedicated on-site substation and plans for a co-located battery energy storage system (BESS). Blue Elephant said it would be the second-largest PV project in Germany once operational.
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The 53MW Aulendorf project in Baden-Württemberg is also contracted under a separate PPA.
Deutsche Bahn said the PPAs – signed with its energy infrastructure subsidiary DB Energie – would power 14 million ICE train kilometres each year. The operator said it covers around 70% of its traction power with renewable energy, with a fleet of solar PV, wind and BESS assets across Germany.
“Long-term green power contracts like these enable the construction of large solar parks and strengthen the expansion of renewable energies in Germany,” said Florian Reuter, managing director of DB Energie. “Moreover, by combining solar power — currently the lowest-cost source of power generation — with battery storage, we will be able to use it far more flexibly in the future.”
Felix Goedhart, founder and CEO of Blue Elephant Energy, added: “We are strengthening our role as project developer and consolidating our profile as an integrated partner for green electricity – whether from photovoltaics, wind, or battery storage systems. The short development period of only three years through to construction shows that Germany can deliver.”
Blue Elephant operates over 1.7GW of renewables across nine countries, over 90% of which is solar PV capacity. Earlier this year, Blue Elephant secured US$214 million in funding from European asset management company Infranity to support the development and construction of its European project pipeline.
Various European railway operators are seeking to either build or buy renewable energy capacity to power their infrastructure. Swedish developer Alight recently signed a PPA with the Danish railway operator for a 215MW agrivoltaics project in the country, and back in 2023, the French railway firm SCNF announced plans to build 1GW of new solar PV capacity by 2030.
PV Tech publisher Solar Media will host the 13th edition of the Solar Finance & Investment Europe event in London on 3 – 4 February 2026. This event annually attracts infrastructure funds, institutional investors, asset managers, banks and development platforms at the forefront of European renewables. For more details, visit the website.
