The “Waldpolenz” solar park will become a 40MW solar energy power plant, a photovoltaic installation that will be comprised of approximately 550,000 First Solar thin-film modules. The direct current produced in the solar modules will be converted into alternating current and fed completely into the power grid.

The site on which it is being built at Brandis, near Leipzig - construction began in 2007 – is a former military base. The expected completion will be in 2009 and the project will be one of the largest photovoltaic projects ever constructed.


With a specific price of approximately Euro 3,250 per kilowatt [U.S. $4,226], the power plant is expected to be around 20%-40% cheaper than the going German market price. In addition, after just a year in operation, the “Waldpolenz” will have produced the energy needed to build it. As a general guide the cost of the power will work out to be between 33.18 – 37.96 euro cents per kilowatt hour.

However, the logistical tasks of managing a Euro 130 million project [U.S. $171 million] — from preparing the land, through buying the components to connecting to the grid — can’t be compared with fitting a solar array on a family home.

“Construction of the world’s biggest plant of this kind is a real challenge for a medium-sized enterprise like the juwi group,” noted Matthias Willenbacher, cofounder and CEO of the juwi group. “In Brandis we’re building on an area of more than a million square meters. By contrast, most house roofs, for example, comprise only 40 to 50 square meters.”

 

The area on which the site is being constructed measures approximately one kilometre wide by two kilometres long. The juwi solar GmbH (the company’s solar division) will set up a base on the grounds in Brandis and is expected to steadily add personnel over the next few years.

On 22 February the juwi group announced that a new section of the Waldpolenz energy park was commissioned which brings the total prodcution capacity to 12.7MW. It is expected that when the full 40MW has been commissioned it will displace around 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Last News Updated : 22 February, 2008

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