juwi still relies on power of the sun

GERMANY: Despite the difficult circumstances in the German home market juwi, the specialist in energy from Wörrstadt, sticks to its solar branch, but is going to adjust the capacities to the changed situation. The reduced feed-in tariff for solar energy and the price increase of solar modules have nearly paralyzed the German PV-market.

“Apart from some exceptions, it is not possible to realize free-field PV-projects profitably in Germany anymore,” reports juwi’s CEO Matthias Willenbacher at the Intersolar Europe, the world’s leading trade fair for the solar industry. “juwi does not retreat from this market completely, we simply adjust our capacities to the changed circumstances,” says Willenbacher.

In 2013, the project developer is going to install less than ten megawatts (MW) in PV in Germany. The year before more than 100 MW were installed. The company sees potential for growth especially abroad. During the Intersolar, which takes place from June 19-21 in Munich, the juwi group presents itself in hall A6, booth 454.

Although there are difficulties to overcome in the German market, juwi has installed exceptional 321 megawatts in photovoltaic plants during the last financial year. “This year, we are going to realize solar projects with more than 200 megawatts internationally” says juwi’s CEO. “But today and in the near future, there is no economic base in Germany”, Willenbacher points out. Therefore, the company is concentrating on the growing solar markets.

“Solar energy has an enormous potential worldwide,” the CEO is convinced. “Especially in the booming markets of Southeast Asia and India.” Therefore, the company is realizing many big projects in these regions.

Last year juwi opened a branch office in Singapore to work from there on promising projects in Thailand and Malaysia. The joint venture “juwi Shizen Energy” that was founded this January in Japan has already brought the first photovoltaic power plant to the grid.

At the moment, the company is developing many big projects in the Far East. Even more are already in the pipeline. In Northern Thailand, in Kamphaeng Phet and Ubon Ratchathani juwi is building five free-field photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of 48 megawatts.

The yearly produced energy is sufficient to supply 30.000 households with electricity. In India, juwi has brought its biggest solar farm on the subcontinent so far to the grid, on behalf of Green Infra, a producer of electricity. The 26-megawatts project, that is situated near the desert town Jodphur, is producing 465 million kilowatt hours of clean solar energy in only one year.

On the other end of the globe, on the southern tip of Africa, juwi is also setting an example. In Rustenburg, the company is building a solar park with seven megawatts. In the province Northern Cape, juwi is realizing two parks with a capacity of ten megawatts each, in the Western Cape a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of eight megawatts.

juwi is also successful in Great Britain. Two solar projects, that have already been sold to the solar company Lightsource Renewable Energy before the connection to the grid, were commissioned last week. The facilities Ninnis Farm (3.88 MW) in Cornwall and The Hollies (8.6 MW) in Lincolnshire are the first projects juwi has developed in the United Kingdom.

The energy specialists from Wörrstadt were also active in the German home market. The largest solar park of the state Thüringen was commissioned at the end of 2012 in Ronneburg. The facility with a capacity of nearly 20 megawatts is situated on a former quarrying field of uranium. In the duchy of Lauenburg in Schleswig-Holstein, juwi has successfully brought a solar farm with a capacity of 25 megawatts to the grid. Merely from the power of the sun the solar park Elemenhorst is producing over 23 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity a year – enough to supply more than 7.700 households.

Next to the classic project business, juwi is promoting its end customer business. “By now solar power from the own rooftop is noticeable cheaper than the common price for electricity,“ says Willenbacher. Hence, rooftop facilities are becoming more and more attractive for the industry as well as for private customers. “Therefore it makes sense to use the own solar power with the aid of storage systems”, juwi’s CEO is adding.

With “juwi Home Power ©“ the company is offering a battery storage that is charged with solar energy during the daytimes. As soon as the own PV-facility is not able to guarantee the supply of the house anymore, the storage system takes over the supply of the house. Thus, cheap solar energy can be used in the evenings and at night.

Since the realignment of the company in 2012, the solar branch has become part of the newly founded juwi Energieprojekte GmbH. The new affiliate unites technology spanning project development and provides customized solutions regarding renewable energies from a single source.