JUWI Solar expanding its activities in Italy, Spain and France
Bolanden (Germany), March 12th, 2008.
Source: Juwi Solar GmbH press release
http://international.juwi.de/information/press/
08-03-PMjuwiSolargoesInternational20080312.pdf
This month juwi solar GmbH based in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany is taking great steps toward expanding its international activities.
Whereas the solar business of the juwi group have been predominantly in Germany so far, an increasing number of projects in southern Europe are now poised to be launched. For instance, building work is due to soon begin at a large-scale, free-standing power station near Lecce in the region of Apulia in southern Italy.
Another free-standing project (1.7 megawatts) will go up near Vittoria, a town in the province of Ragusa, in the island region of Sicily. “Altogether we intend to install more than 20 megawatts in Italy this year,” says Bolzano branch manager Erwin Mayr. Due to the abundance of projects juwi solar GmbH will open two more branches in Verona and Bari.
The juwi group’s solar experts are also increasing their involvement in Spain. Construction of the Cortijo El Cura solar park in the municipality of Antequera in Andalusia has begun. This two-megawatt free-standing project in the Spanish province of Málaga was developed jointly with the Ansasol S.L. company and is due to go on line in summer 2008. Juwi solar has also founded a branch in Valencia to facilitate its presence on the Spanish market.
Juwi solar GmbH aims to install photovoltaic stations amounting to more than 2,000 megawatts of power production capacity by 2012 in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United States, Rwanda, South Korea and many other countries. Project development is underway and to support these sizable plans juwi is expanding its network of branches abroad. Juwi korea Co., Ltd. was recently founded in Seoul; juwi solar Hellas
is currently taking shape in Greece; and juwi S.A.R.L. has its center of solar activities for southern France in Aix-en-Provence.
“We are systematically conveying our quality and competence abroad. This entails many interesting vacancies to be filled at our headquarters in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and also at our foreign offices around the world,” says Lars Falck, managing director of juwi solar GmbH.
Background information
…on the renewable energies market
In recent years the proportion of cleanly produced power in the electricity supply has grown constantly. In Germany wind, hydro, solar and bio sources now generate nearly 15% of the national supply. The German federal government’s sustainability strategy aims at a 50% share of renewables in the middle of the century. In Germany the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is the core instrument for implementing this strategy. It has become an essential building block for securing and creating jobs. The German renewable energies sector employs about 250,000 people.
…on solar energy
2007 was a record-breaking year for the German photovoltaic sector. According to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW), the number of solar power installations, predominantly on German rooftops, increased by around 130,000, bringing the total to 430,000 installations. Some 1,100 megawattspeak (MWp) of solar electricity capacity newly joined the grid last year in Germany, more than ever before in a single year. Benefiting from that are domestic manufacturers, suppliers and skilled workers. Sales figures of German photovoltaic makers increased last year by 23%, amounting to around EUR 5.5 billion. According to the BSW the total number of employed
in the sector is now 40,000.
The organization also says that there are now solar electricity installations totaling 3,800 megawatts of capacity installed in Germany. The three billion kilowatt-hours of electricity they produce is enough to power all the homes in Hamburg, the second biggest city in Germany. In 2005 and 2006 respectively, 850 MWp were newly installed; in 2007 some 1,100 megawatts of photovoltaic production capacity was installed, making Germany the world’s leading solar market.
…on the juwi group
The juwi group ranks among Germany’s leading renewable energy companies. In addition to photovoltaics and biomass, wind energy is its strongest mainstay. With about 250 staff juwi is involved in the entire value creation chain. By the end of 2007, PV stations installed by the company
numbered more than 650; their total capacity amounting to some 80,000 kilowatts – an investment value of approximately EUR 400 million. Some of last year’s showcase projects include several megawatt-scale rooftop installations and in South Tyrol one of the most powerful PV installations in Italy. In Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, juwi was commissioned by Stadtwerke Mainz AG (city of Mainz public utility company) to build a 250-kW plant, the largest PV installation in Africa.
At the end of April 2007 construction work began on the world’s largest PV installation in the Waldpolenz energy park. Located in Brandis, east of Leipzig, this 40-MW solar park is being built at a former military airbase. It is due for completion by the end of 2009. At the end of 2007 more than 13 MW were already in place.