Alongside wind and hydroelectric power, solar energy is one of the renewable energy sources in Deutsche Bahn's traction current mix. Bay the end of 2025, renewable energy already accounted for 71.5% of DB's traction current mix.
Solar energy for DB trains
DB is investing in the long-term purchase of renewable power from solar systems. For example, the solar power plant in Wasbek, Schleswig-Holstein, has been connected to the grid since April 2023 and feeds solar power directly into the German rail power network. The plant, which was commissioned in collaboration with the company ENERPARC, covers an area of approximately 40 hectares and is expected to supply around 38 gigawatt-hours of renewable power per year. In Weimar, Thuringia, solar energy has been fed directly into the overhead line since August 2025. To do this, the electricity is first converted to the traction current frequency of 16.7 Hz using so-called inverters.
DB obtains even more renewable power through two long-term power supply contracts with Blue Elephant Energy GmbH. These so-called Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) were concluded for a total of approximately 2.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar power. The renewable power will be supplied by two large solar parks in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which will go into operation by mid-2027.
DB has also been drawing solar energy from the solar park in Gaarz near Plau am See in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since 2021. The solar plant will supply green electricity to DB’s trains for over 30 years. And since the beginning of 2024, an additional 15 large solar parks — spread across the whole Germany — have been supplying Deutsche Bahn with electricity from solar energy as part of six purchase agreements.
Solar energy from the roof
Currently, some of DB’s workshops, train stations, and warehouses are equipped with solar systems. In Leipzig, for example, a photovoltaic system was installed on a total of three sections of the ICE depot building. The electricity generated from the sun is stored on site in a second-life battery storage system made from retired electric car batteries and is then used when the depot´s energy demand at the plant is particularly high or when the sun is not shining. In this way, the battery storage system and the PV system—which has a capacity of up to 250 kilowatts — can cover about a quarter of the ICE plant’s electricity needs.
In addition, DB installed high-performance solar power systems at three depot locations in Nuremberg, Duisburg, and Karlsruhe in 2023. The system in Nuremberg has already been connected to the grid and has a maximum output of 340 kilowatts. The systems in Duisburg and Karlsruhe will go into operation shortly.
Go