# Insurance for solar parks, wind farms, biogas and CHP plants in Germany

> An energy plant earns money every hour the sun shines or the wind blows, and loses it every hour it stands still. So the expensive part is not only the damage to a module, gearbox or engine, but above all the downtime until it is repaired. Banks will rarely finance a plant without an insurance package that covers both.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-energy-generation.php  
Updated: 2026-09-18

## Does the insurance pay when the grid operator curtails our plant?

No. Loss of revenue cover only pays when insured physical damage to the plant causes the standstill, for example a lightning strike, a gearbox failure or stolen cables. Curtailment, weak wind or sun years and falling market prices are business risks. For curtailment, German energy law has its own compensation rules.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No statutory insurance duty for running the plant; but lending banks, landowners and grid operators require liability and property cover, and for wind turbines the building permit usually demands a security for dismantling
- **Biggest risk:** Technical breakdown of inverters, gearboxes and engines, and the loss of revenue until the repair is done
- **Basic cover from:** about 1,500 to 3,000 euros a year for all risks, loss of revenue and operator liability for a 1 megawatt solar park
- **Statutory accident insurer:** BG ETEM (the Berufsgenossenschaft for energy, textiles, electrical and media products) for operators with employees
- **Often forgotten:** Serial losses: if the same defect hits many modules or turbines, some policies sharply limit what they pay
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 35.11 Elektrizitätserzeugung aus nicht erneuerbaren Energieträgern, 35.12 Elektrizitätserzeugung aus erneuerbaren Energieträgern, 35.13 Elektrizitätsübertragung, 35.14 Elektrizitätsverteilung, 35.15 Elektrizitätshandel, 35.16 Speichern von elektrischer Energie, 35.21 Gaserzeugung, 35.22 Gasverteilung durch Rohrleitungen, 35.23 Gashandel durch Rohrleitungen, 35.24 Speichern von Gas zu Versorgungszwecken, 35.30 Wärme- und Kälteversorgung, 35.40 Tätigkeiten von Strom- und Erdgasmaklerinnen und -maklern

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Machinery under constant load:** Inverters, transformers, gearboxes, generators and gas engines run around the clock. A breakdown costs you the repair and the revenue at the same time.
- **Weather:** Hail on module fields, lightning in a blade tip, storms above the cut-out speed: open fields and towers take the full force of the weather.
- **Copper and module theft:** Remote solar parks are targets for organised cable and module thieves. The damage to the wiring is often worth more than the loot.
- **Fire:** Arcing at connectors, overheated transformers, digestate stores at biogas plants: fire spreads quickly to neighbouring land.
- **Environment:** Leaking transformer oil, digestate in a stream, hydraulic oil from a wind turbine: environmental damage leads to clean-up duties under the Environmental Damage Act (Umweltschadensgesetz).
- **Remote control and grid:** Plants are monitored and controlled remotely. A cyber attack on the control system can shut down an entire park.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 3, Fire and water 5, Theft 3, Cyber 4, Downtime 5, Health 2

## The insurance you need

- **Machinery breakdown** (Essential): As all risks or machinery breakdown cover, it pays for damage to modules, inverters, turbines and engines caused by technical failure, weather, fire and theft. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-machinery-breakdown.php
- **Business interruption** (Essential): Replaces feed-in tariff and direct marketing income while the plant stands still after an insured loss; banks require it for financing. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Business liability** (Essential): As operator liability it covers damage to third parties, for example from ice throw or fire, with environmental liability (Umwelthaftpflicht) and environmental damage extensions. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Solar panel insurance** (Strongly advised): For smaller rooftop and ground-mounted plants there are photovoltaic packages that bundle all risks, revenue and liability at a low price. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-solar-panel-insurance.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Strongly advised): For park controllers, remote monitoring and direct marketing, whose failure takes whole sites off the grid. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Contractors all risks** (Depends on the business): As erection insurance it protects the plant during construction until commissioning. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-contractors-all-risks.php
- **D&O insurance** (Depends on the business): For managing directors of operating companies and community energy cooperatives who work with a lot of other people's capital. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-directors-and-officers.php

## What it costs: example prices

Plant insurance is usually priced per thousand of the plant's value and depends on technology, location, age, maintenance and deductible. Small photovoltaic systems have published rates; wind turbines and large parks are always calculated individually.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Solar panel insurance | Rooftop system with 10 kilowatts peak and a plant value of 20,000 euros | about 60 to 90 euros a year |
| Solar panel insurance | Commercial rooftop system with 250 kilowatts peak, all risks, loss of revenue and liability | about 500 to 1,100 euros a year |
| Machinery breakdown | 1 megawatt solar park worth around 700,000 euros, all risks and loss of revenue | about 1,200 to 2,500 euros a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Single 5 megawatt wind turbine, machinery breakdown and loss of revenue | usually from about 10,000 euros a year, on request only |
| Business liability | Operator liability for a solar park up to 5 megawatts with environmental extension | about 250 to 600 euros a year |

For comparison: Insuring a 1 megawatt solar park costs about as much a year as the park earns from electricity on three to five sunny summer days.

_Guide prices excluding insurance premium tax, as of September 2026. The figures for small photovoltaic systems come from published rates; the others are cautious guide values from the quotes we see in practice. For wind, biogas and large parks we calculate from the plant data._

- [transparent-beraten.de: photovoltaic insurance](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/photovoltaikversicherung/)
- [transparent-beraten.de: cyber insurance](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/cyber-versicherung/)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Rooftop** (Commercial rooftop system or small ground-mounted plant up to about 750 kilowatts peak): Solar panel insurance, Business liability. Together: about 600 to 1,600 euros a year
- **Park** (Solar park or several plants with remote monitoring): Machinery breakdown, Business interruption, Business liability, Cyber insurance. Together: about 1,600 to 3,500 euros per megawatt a year
- **Portfolio** (Wind, solar or biogas operators with new build projects and shareholders): Machinery breakdown, Business interruption, Business liability, Cyber insurance, Contractors all risks, D&O insurance. Together: calculated individually, usually five to six figures a year

## The worst day at the energy park

Six things that really happen to operators of energy plants, all on a single summer day. Click through the day and see who pays.

- 03:10: Cable thieves cut out the strings between module rows and inverters in a 5 megawatt solar park. (€45,000, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 03:15: Until it is rewired, a third of the park feeds nothing into the grid for three weeks. (€18,000, Paid by: Business interruption)
- 09:40: After an attack on the monitoring system the park controller is locked, and every plant shuts down. (€25,000, Paid by: Cyber insurance)
- 13:20: An arc at a connector sets dry grass alight, and the fire spreads to the neighbour's field. (€12,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 16:50: Hailstones larger than four centimetres smash modules across two hectares. (€160,000, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 22:30: Oil from a leaking transformer seeps into the ground, and the authority orders a clean-up. (€38,000, Paid by: Business liability)

**Damage so far:** €298,000

## Practical tips from your broker

- Agree an indemnity period for loss of revenue that matches the delivery times for spare parts; for transformers and gearboxes twelve months is often too short.
- Check the clauses on serial losses and on maintenance duties before you sign.
- Include environmental liability and environmental damage cover in your operator liability, especially with transformers and biogas.
- Protect ground-mounted plants against theft with fencing, cameras and alarm monitoring; many insurers make this a condition.
- Make sure there is no gap at commissioning when erection insurance ends and operating cover begins.
- Have direct marketing income, not just the fixed tariff under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), included in loss of revenue cover.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **We compare specialist insurers too:** Only a limited number of insurers cover energy plants, often with very different terms on serial losses and indemnity periods. As a broker we put the offers side by side.
- **We know technical claims:** In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves, from engines to electrics. We know how loss adjusters assess machinery damage and where insurers try to cut payments.
- **Roof, farm and business together:** Many plants sit on your own sheds, farms or houses. We align plant, building and private policies so they fit together.
- **A family business since 1989:** Energy projects run for twenty years and more. So do we: the same people to talk to, free for you, because the insurer pays our commission.

## FAQ

### Is insurance compulsory for a solar park in Germany?

Not by law. In practice banks, landowners and often grid operators require liability cover and plant insurance with loss of revenue as a condition for financing and land leases.

### Is buildings insurance enough for a commercial rooftop system?

Usually not. It only covers fire, storm and hail, often only up to a limit. Technical breakdown, theft and loss of revenue need separate plant insurance.

### What does insurance for a solar park cost?

For a 1 megawatt park, all risks, loss of revenue and operator liability usually come to about 1,500 to 3,000 euros a year, depending on location, security and deductible.

### Who is liable for ice thrown from a wind turbine?

The operator, if ice detection is missing or fails and someone is injured or something is damaged. Operator liability covers this, provided the prescribed technology is installed.

### Is environmental damage covered by public liability?

Damage to third parties is covered by environmental liability; public law clean-up duties for soil and water only by an environmental damage extension. Both should be included for plants with oil or digestate.

### Does insurance cover weak wind or sun years?

No, that is a yield risk, not physical damage. There are highly specialised weather derivatives for it, but for most operators they are not worth the cost.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. Free of charge and without obligation: the insurer pays our commission. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-energy-generation.php#anfrage

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NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, +49 3375 29 12 77, info@nammert.com. Wikidata: Q141141479.