Q-Cells builds superlative PV power plant

BITTERFELD-WOLFEN, GERMANY: Q-Cells SE, one of the leading photovoltaic companies in the world, is building Europe’s largest solar park and continuing its 2011 success story in the large-scale photovoltaic applications business.

The solar park being built in Brandenburg-Briest will have a capacity of 91 MW. A total of around 22,500 households will be supplied with renewable energy from the solar park, avoiding CO2 emissions of approximately 50,000 tons per year. The mega-project is being constructed on the site of the former Brandenburg-Briest military airbase with an area of approximately 200 hectares, and illustrates the environmentally friendly transformation of disused sites with a sustainable usage concept.

After acquiring the area of the former military airbase, Q-Cells obtained all approvals required for the construction of the solar park in close cooperation with local officials. Now the photovoltaic company has found two renowned investors in the solar energy sector who acquired the project. The neighbouring solar parks Brandenburg-Briest West and Brandenburg-Briest Ost, which are being built on land within the municipality of the city of Brandenburg, have a total capacity of around 60 MW and were purchased by the Hamburg investment company LUXCARA. Construction began immediately.

The sub-project of around 31 MW being built in the Briest – Havelsee district since mid-October was bought by the MCG Group in Berlin. It constitutes another milestone in the long-time successful partnership between MCG and Q-Cells.

In a record time of approximately eight weeks, the three solar parks are planned to be completed by the end of 2011 and connected to public grid via a transformer station built by Q-Cells especially for the purpose. Around 383,000 Q-Cells crystalline solar modules will be installed.

“As Europe’s largest solar park, this project is a clear proof of Q-Cells’ performance ability,” said Nedim Cen, CEO of Q-Cells SE. “We are pleased to have gained two experienced investors in the large-scale photovoltaic applications business with LUXCARA and MCG. Realising the Briest Brandenburg solar park proves that Q-Cells is maintaining its leading position in the field of large-scale photovoltaic applications, even in a challenging market environment, and is valued as a reliable partner.”

Alexandra von Bernstorff, MD, LUXCARA GmbH, said: “As asset managers we place a great deal of value on high-quality parks from experienced photovoltaic companies such as Q-Cells; the product performance of which we can count on to provide the highest degree of security for the next 20 years. The 60 MW Brandenburg-Briest solar parks are key for our portfolio of our institutional investors”, added Kathrin Oechtering, also a managing director at LUXCARA GmbH. “As we provided the interim financing for this project ourselves, the acquisition will occur faster than average.”

Alone in the past 12 months, MCG has acquired a number of photovoltaic plants from Q-Cells with a total investment volume of more than EUR 100 million and added them to its own portfolio. “We value the excellent quality and Q-Cells’ position as the leading plant constructor and are looking forward to continue our co-operation with Q-Cells in 2012,” said Jörg Eßer and Marco Manago, directing managers at MCG, located in Berlin.

With a total installed capacity of 460 MW, Q-Cells is among the leading system integrators in the world. At the beginning of 2011, Q-Cells transferred what was then Germany’s largest solar park to investors – Finsterwalde with a capacity of around 82 MW. After only eight weeks of construction, Q-Cells handed over the first construction stage of the Zerbst solar park in Saxony-Anhalt with 21 MW to the investors MCG Group and GETEC in June 2011.

The completion and transfer of the second construction phase in Zerbst with around 25 MW to the investor GSI Düsseldorf followed in September 2011. Connecting the 21 MWp solar park in Ammerland, northern Germany, to the grid at the end of October – for which Q-Cells supplied around 200,000 of its Q.SMART CIGS thin-film modules – was another milestone for Q-Cells on its way to becoming a leading international supplier of PV applications.

Q-Cells recently solidified its expertise in the photovoltaic applications business in international future markets as well. In October, Q-Cells secured an order for a 30 MW project in California through PG&E, one of the largest electricity suppliers in the USA. Q-Cells also realised no less than three major projects with a total output of 66 in co-operation with Starwood in Ontario, Canada during 2011. Recently, Q-Cells also delivered its Q.SMART thin-film solar modules into a 5 MW project in Rajasthan, India, which is another promising photovoltaic market.

As a supplier of customer-oriented solutions, Q-Cells offers a comprehensive service package for its partners and investors in the large-scale photovoltaic applications business: from site and project development through financing support and professional, fast installation to the operation, maintenance and repair of the generating plants during their entire operating phase.

The standards developed by Q-Cells especially for this business guarantee the highest investment security for the operator through reliable electricity yields with simultaneously reduced operating costs. Thanks to leading technology, the products offered by Q-Cells prove themselves in a variety of applications: large-scale outdoor installations, systems on industrial buildings and shopping centres as well as systems on private rooftops or carports.