Solarpark Clausen

Largest solar park in the district of Südwestpfalz, which was commissioned in 2012 as a successful conversion project on the site of a former chemical weapons storage facility of the US Armed Forces. 13,600 solar modules with a capacity of 3.2 megawatts feed around 3 million kilowatt-hours into the regional power grid each year. This corresponds to the consumption of about 600 households and a CO2 saving of around 2,500 tons per year. Thus, the municipality of Clausen, with its approximately 530 households, is mathematically more than climate-neutral since the solar park has fully come online.

The solar park is located on a former conversion area, hidden away in a forest clearing. Special attention was paid to landscape and nature conservation during the planning and implementation of the seven-hectare project. Contrary to the usual metal stand construction method, the solar panels are mounted on wooden posts made from regional oak forests. An aspect of resource conservation is further seen in the fact that new construction could be avoided by utilizing the access infrastructure of the former depot. In addition to the obligatory state-led compensation measures, a biotope and a snake mound have been established on the conversion area.

The US military once stored an unprecedented chemical weapons arsenal at this high-security depot of the former chemical weapons storage site for about 25 years. For a long time, this went unnoticed by politics and the public. Within the approximately 17-hectare depot, around 400 tons of chemical warfare agents Sarin and VX were stored in 15 bunkers. According to experts, this amount of lethal nerve agent would have been sufficient to wipe out several hundred million human lives. In 1990, these were transported away for destruction. The civil-military operation, under the codename “Operation Lindwurm,” made international headlines at the time. A peace cross with a memorial stone at the access road from Clausen still commemorates those times.

After the depot was released from military use in 1993, a private buyer initially could not implement its development concepts. It was only through the repurchase and the commitment of the local community of Clausen starting in 2010 that the large-scale solar project could be realized with the help of stakeholders from business and politics.

Furthermore, the solar park is located along the Clausenseetour of the Gräfensteiner Land.

Opening times

The area is fenced in for security reasons and can only be viewed from the fence.