The success of 500 MW+ solar parks in Europe could give considerable lessons for the UK, has said a panel of experts.
On the first day of Solar Media’s Solar Finance and Investment Europe Conference in London, a panel chaired by Sonia Dunlop, head of the Global Solar Council, discussed the case of the 500 MW+ Witnitz Energy Solar Power Plant in Germany and how the investment demonstrates plea for developments in this scale.
The Witznitz Energy project, just south of Leipzig, Germany, is claimed to be the largest solar project in Europe, “although we don’t expect it to be long,” Sonia noted. The scale of the project was unprecedented – Oliver Marqurodt, senior manager of Hansa Real Estate Investments, who supported the development financially, said that the company’s response to the first proposal of 650 MW was “serious”.
Dunlop noted that the project is a “great example” of a smaller developer – Moveon Energy – who delivers a large -scale project. The selection of the site partially helped with the success of the process with a grid connection of 380 kV in the area, the connection problems was minimal and the location of the site on a former coal mine and next to a former coal-fired power plant is “symbolic” to the transition road From fossil fuels, Dunlop added. It could be said that with the last coal-fired power station of the UK in the fall of 2024 the closure of former coal locations can be a useful and untouched source of land for large-scale solar developments.
The issue of financing these large-scale projects is one that is currently in particular for the UK, Mariya Merdzhanova noted, head of sale for Eastern and Northern Europe in Jinkosolar EU, which the 1.1 million solar modules for the site delivered. With the British government that recently approves development assignments (DCOs) for about 1 GW Zonne in two developments, the 480 MW Heckington Fen Solar and 500 MW West Burton Solar Solar PV Power Plants, said Merdzhanova that the issue of finance is the following , adding: “I think this is currently the key to the UK”.
The answer could be in Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), if British developers want to take an idea of the Witznitz Energy Project. The panel members noted that although the negotiation process of a PPA for Witznitz started relatively late in the process and lasted about a year and a half to negotiate, the last successful deal with Microsoft is an important example of how much of the current appetite for Solar is being driven Through company interests and their desire to decipher.
In general, some of the largest lessons to be taken from the success of development that are worldwide and universal – are dedication and transparency. Marqurodt notes that Hansa Real Estate was impressed by the dedication of Moveon Energy from the start of the process, which states that the developer “has put a lot of effort into making the site beautiful” through biodiversity measures such as hedgerow plants. In general, transparency and communication are perhaps the most important things behind the success of every developer; As Marqurodt notes: “If you work honestly, with a straight face, you can achieve a lot, and that has driven us through many of the ups and downs”.
