News

Peatland-PV could do much better

if it was wet

06/01/2026  Good measure, wrong spot: More GHG emitted than saved by sustainable energy – that’s how the greenhouse gas balance on solar power on drained peatlands in Germany looks like so far, this new study in Scientific Reports of @springernature shows:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27952-4

Instead, this could be far better, and solar-PV on peatlands even greener, if … they were wet!  Rewetting stops CO2-emissions from drained peatlands nearly immediately and thus prevents harm from continued peat oxidation exceeding the benefit of a clean energy production.

“Newly wet peatlands with suitably designed solar parks could have a combined benefit and can unlock a powerful climate mitigation potential.” says co-author Carl Pump of the University of Greifswald. “But only with smart and careful planning - ideally in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders and authorities.”

165 solar parks have already been built on peatland until December 2023 with a total installed capacity of 643 MWp. In average they provide electricity for 200.000 households per year. Due to generally lower soils scores peatland areas might even have been favoured in the past. A substantial number of these plants receives feed-in tariff. Since 2023 it has been prohibited to receive feed-in tariff for new solar parks built on drained peatlands, making them largely unprofitable.

The study’s key messages:
- No new solar parks on drained peatlands!
- Peatland PV on rewetted soils can substantially contribute to energy transition!
- Through the additional rewetting of the peatland next to the PV, the emission values of a kWh can be even more positive.
-Rewetted peatland PV could also be part of landuse transition to rewet peatland