Juwi Group Plans 60-Megawatt Solar Charge For U.K.

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--German solar power company juwi Group (Bolanden, Germany) is continuing its European expansion and has announced plans to build more than 60 megawatts (MW) of solar farms in the United Kingdom in the next two years.

The company has set up a subsidiary under the name juwi Renewable Energies Limited in Birmingham and aims to establish a network of solar plants in the south of the country. The U.K. move marks another step in an active period of expansion for juwi this year, which has seen the company establishing new offices in Slovakia, Bulgaria and India. Juwi has stated previously that it intends to install 1,000 MW of new solar power by 2012. In the U.K., solar energy is predicted to contribute 6,000 MW, or 2%, to the national electricity supply by 2020, according to the developer.

The company, which has been attracted by the government's national feed-in tariff, is aiming to develop most of its own solar projects from start to finish, from the acquisition of suitable land through completion of the plant. Juwi also plans to take on turnkey projects in which it will act as the general contractor for the design, engineering and construction of free-field and rooftop solar installations.

"The U.K. currently provides excellent conditions for the solar industry. The country is becoming an attractive European market," commented Lars Falck, managing director of juwi Solar. "We are happy that the United Kingdom has jumped on the bandwagon for renewable energies and is undergoing a comprehensive restructuring of the energy supply. We want to contribute to a further acceleration of this train so that we reach 100% renewable energies as soon as possible."

Juwi connected a 3.6-MW solar plant in the Bulgarian town of Drachevo this summer and has recently finished work on Slovakia's largest solar project, a 4-MW plant at Kosihy.

In September, the U.K.'s first solar park was given the green light for construction at a disused tin mine in Cornwall, on the southwest coast of England. The 1.55-MW plant will be built by solar developer 35 Degrees (Slough, England) and will have 5,700 solar panels mounted on 2-metre frames that will generate 1.25 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough for about 300 homes. For related news, see September 29, 2010, article - Cornwall Council Approves Construction of U.K.'s First Solar Park.

Earlier this month, Eco Sustainable Solutions (Parley, England) revealed plans to build a larger 5-MW solar farm in the Dorset region of southwest England . The Parley Solar Farm will utilise 30,000 solar panels to generate enough energy to meet the electricity needs of 1,100 homes.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and now expanding coverage across the world.

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