On Tuesday 17 September 2024, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works presented the results of a study to assess the photovoltaic potential along Luxembourg's motorways.
The ministries had launched the study in collaboration with the National Roads Administration. The results are now available and will serve as a basis for refining and finalising a development strategy in the coming months. The ministries added that this initiative is part of the government programme aimed at promoting renewable energy and optimising the use of road infrastructure.
The first phase of the study focuses on the A3 motorway, which is currently being widened. This strategic choice allows this section to be examined as a priority in order to identify and take advantage of potential synergies with the work in progress, thus facilitating the planning and implementation of photovoltaic projects. The ministers concerned welcomed the "promising potential" identified by the study and the recommendations made.
Since the direct footprint of the land immediately alongside a motorway is very limited, the study also covers areas (state and private) in a wider corridor around the motorways, added the ministries.
They noted that this first part of the study should therefore still to be considered as a first step, with the final study on the 165 km of the motorway network still in progress.
They also explained that this feasibility study establishes theoretical potentials, draws up recommendations and outlines possible priorities. An interministerial working group will now be responsible for prioritising the motorway network projects to be carried out and analysing their technical feasibility in detail, particularly with regard to the mobilisation of land and the injection capacities of the electricity network.
In parallel with the finalisation of the photovoltaic projects along the A3, feasibility studies will continue for the rest of the Luxembourg motorway network.
Moreover, the Ministry of the Economy, together with the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works, had previously identified promising areas for the installation of photovoltaics and directed the owners concerned towards state support instruments. The Economy Ministry said it plans to intensify its efforts to mobilise these areas in the coming months.
The two ministries noted that even if these theoretical potentials were to be fully exploited, other measures would still be necessary to achieve national renewable energy objectives.
Among the conclusions of this first part of the study was that the total photovoltaic potential of all listed areas was about 160 MWp, i.e. almost 20% of the power to be installed to reach the PNEC (Luxembourg's integrated national energy and climate plan) target for 2030.
The provisional results are available (in French) here.
