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RWE installs 2 MW solar power plant in Germany
In November, the electric utility Pfalzwerke AG and PV company RWE Schott Solar GmbH began construction of a 2 MW PV plant in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany. The nearly
€8 million ($9.6 million) system should have come on line by the end of 2003.
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Pfalzsolar GmbH |
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Safe from stormy weather: 12 RWE modules are mounted on each module table anchored with a special mounting system.
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The companies founded a joint venture, Pfalzsolar GmbH i.G., with headquarters in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse for planning and operating the system. The two investors each own a 50 percent share of the company. It's no coincidence that these two partners chose to create a joint venture
– after all, RWE owns 27 percent of Pfalzwerke.
RWE Schott Solar built the PV power plant, which is equipped with around 7,000 ASE-300-DG modules, as a turnkey system at a fixed price; SMA provided the 250 Sunny Central inverters; and Fürth-based GWU Solar GmbH constructed the mounting system, which uses
»wire baskets« filled with stones like those used in road construction. Each wire basket can stabilize a metal frame with 12 modules, so the system doesn't have to be anchored into the ground.
»The PV plant is a key investment for our solar park at the Lilienthal airport,« says Thomas Hammann, managing director for the municipal economic development company of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. In 2000, the company purchased the former
»Edon« barracks (encompassing almost 700,000 m2) in Lachen-Speyerdorf. Part of the property will serve as a 250,000
m2 industrial park for renewable energy companies.
But every solar park needs a solar power plant, which is why Thomas Hammann floated his idea for a large-scale PV system to several module manufacturers. Five investors made offers, but Pfalzsolar won the contract. The company then proceeded to sell 75 percent of the system to Deutsche Solarkraftwerke Verwaltungs GmbH (DSK) in Fürth. Pfalzsolar will continue to administer and operate the remaining 25 percent.
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GWU Solar GmbH |
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For the 2 MW system, GWU Solar uses their patented mounting system based on
»wire baskets« filled with stones instead of concrete columns.
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DSK was founded in March 2001 by GWU as a subsidiary. The company offers mutual funds with options to invest in PV systems. In this case, DSK, in conjunction with the local office of Commerzbank AG, is offering shares in the solar park system to the citizens of Neustadt for a minimum of
€20,000 ($23,970) and with a 6.5 percent rate of return before taxes. But private investor capital will make up just one-fourth of the total capital; 75 percent of the project's capital will come from a German Development Bank (KfW) loan. Project planners estimate an annual average electricity yield of 960 kWh per kW.
In addition to the PV plant in Neustadt, Pfalzsolar has plans to build other
»megawatt-scale« projects, says RWE Schott Solar's managing director Ralf Peters.
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