Düsseldorf, October 18^th, 2021 – A new solar park with an installed capacity of 11.2 megawatts was connected to the grid in Rotthalmünster, Bavaria, on October 18^th, 2021. "We market the electricity from the plant to RWE Supply &Trading via a direct purchase agreement, a so-called PPA (Power Purchase Agreement). This makes us one of the first in Germany to implement this type of marketing", says Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group.

The new solar park will produce around 12,800 MWh of electricity per year and can thus save 16,500 tons of CO₂, while producing enough energy to supply 3,600 households. The plant was built by Solea and the company is also responsible for operation and maintenance.

"Despite many challenges, such as a tight module market, delivery difficulties and a shortage of raw materials, we were able to connect the solar park in Rotthalmünster to the grid on time. We are pleased to be operating our first PPA project in Germany", Voigt said. The partner for the PPA is RWE Supply & Trading based in Essen. The PPA was agreed as a "pay as produced" structure with a fixed price over twelve years. "In this way, we have hedged the price risk with an established partner", says Voigt. "We are pleased to be able to support aream with our expertise in marketing their solar park", says Dr. Hendrik Niebaum, Head of Commodity Solutions at RWE Supply & Trading. "With our global portfolio, we as RWE are among the leading producers of electricity from renewable sources. We already have a large green power portfolio, whether from our own plants or those of third parties. We want to expand this further so that we can support our industrial customers and our municipal utility partners in achieving their climate protection targets", Niebaum said.

PPAs are still relatively rare in Germany, but are already firmly established in other European countries. The German market is considered one of the markets with the greatest potential for this. PPAs offer power generators and customers the opportunity to agree on prices for the long term and thus bring stability to payment flows. "This creates security on both sides: The buyer knows his costs for the next few years, and the supplier knows his revenues", says Voigt. To participate in this, investors can invest in aream's Clean Energy Future Fund. "Within a renewable energy portfolio, this also makes it easier to plan returns", says Voigt.

About aream

The aream Group is a fully integrated investment and asset manager for institutional investors with a focus on sustainable infrastructure in the renewable energy sector, which includes wind and solar power, grids and storage technology. In this context, aream is represented along the entire value chain from project development to plant operation. With a transaction volume of more than EUR 1.5 billion, the company has been covering the entire spectrum of asset management services for over 15 years and ensures the commercial and technical optimization of the assets. In addition to classic project investments in clean energy, aream also offers investment opportunities in climate-tech companies: directly or via private equity solutions. aream combines investment expertise with technical and commercial know-how and ensures sustainable performance with stable distributions, returns and value growth through a structured investment and risk management process.

About RWE Supply & Trading

RWE Supply & Trading is the interface between RWE and the energy markets around the world. Approximately 1,600 employees from 40 countries trade electricity, gas, commodities and CO2 emission allowances. Accurate market analyses and a high degree of customer centricity enable them to create innovative energy supply solutions as well as risk management concepts for industrial operations. The trading company also ensures the commercial optimisation of power plant dispatch at RWE and markets electricity from renewables. In addition, there are the legally independent RWE gas storage companies under the umbrella of RWE Supply & Trading.