BELECTRIC inaugurates Europe

- Ralf Christoffers, Brandenburg’s Minister for Economic and European Affairs, and Jürgen Trittin, leading Green Party candidate, start off the opening ceremony

Templin/Kolitzheim - Europe’s most advanced ground-mounted solar power plant opens today in Templin in Brandenburg. The facility is located on what was once the largest Soviet military airport in Central Europe and will provide 36,000 households with renewable power. “The solar power plant is equipped with the latest ‘Made in Germany’ technology,” says Bernhard Beck, CEO of BELECTRIC. “From the very beginning, it was important for our company to ensure a safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy supply. The power plant in Templin demonstrates that with renewable energies, this supply is already a reality. Thanks to an intensive decrease in costs, photovoltaics can boast the steepest cost reduction rate of all renewable energies over the past ten years. This makes it even more incomprehensible that projects of this kind are no longer feasible in Germany in the current political environment. Politicians must act now if the potential of this technology is to be exploited in the future. An adjustment of the surface criteria is the first step. The citizens and decision-makers of local communities should be allowed to decide their own energy future.”

The Groß Dölln/ Templin solar power plant was connected to the grid a few weeks ago. The construction, in late summer of last year, took only four months, thanks to the close cooperation of all parties involved. Due to the high solar irradiation levels in sunny northeast Brandenburg, a production of more than 120 million kilowatt hours of power are possible. At that level, households all the way in Berlin can be supplied with electricity from Templin, while carbon dioxide pollution in the region is reduced by 90,000 tons per year.

Ralf Christoffers, Brandenburg’s Minister for Economic and European Affairs, emphasizes the project’s importance to the state: “Brandenburg is a pioneer in the field of renewable energies and considers their further development a priority. The new solar power plant is another major step in this direction.” The Minister stressed that the energy transition must continue to be promoted: “For Brandenburg, the associated structural change to the energy supply – that is, from centralised to largely decentralised – poses great challenges to the existing energy supply system. With the Energy Strategy 2030, the Brandenburg state government has set the framework for the advancement of its energy sector. Network expansion and convergence are necessary for the further development of renewable energies, as is the consolidation of the electric and heat supplies from one source and the increased research and application of storage technologies.”

Jürgen Trittin points out the success of the German Renewable Energy Act. “The project in Templin demonstrates that the Renewable Energy Act was an effective use of our governing time,” says Trittin, who had a significant role in shaping the Act during his tenure as Federal Minister for the Environment. “In energy policy,” he goes on, “the course must be set now so that the energy transformation can be successfully continued. Renewables are not the cause of rising electricity costs; the increases are politically induced by, among other things, a multitude of unjustified exemptions.”

The Mayor of Templin, Detlef Tappert, and the CDU representative of the regional state parliament, Henryk Wichmann, are praising the specifics of the project. Through sustainable investment, one of the largest brownfield sites in Brandenburg was given a sustainable use. The speakers expressed great satisfaction with the economic and environmental importance for the region. “Constructive cooperation between the investor, BELECTRIC, and the relevant authorities and decision-makers allowed good use to be made of an important site in the city of Templin with a positive impact on nature and the environment,” said Mayor Tappert, praising in particular the smooth development process.
Martin Zembsch, CEO of BELECTRIC, adds that, “the decentralised feed-in of energy requires new and intelligent solutions. These are already available today and could significantly reduce the costs associated with the restructuring of the energy supply. It should thus be the goal of politicians to permit the construction of ground-mounted solar power plants where they are needed in terms of grid technology and consumption.

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About BELECTRIC®: BELECTRIC is one of the world’s most successful companies in the development and construction of ground-mounted solar power plants and photovoltaic roof systems. As an international company, BELECTRIC is represented in more than 20 countries. Its position as a world leader in technology is the result of a high degree of vertical integration in the development and manufacturing processes. A belief in the compatibility of economic and ecological interests has always been the basis for the sustainable success of our 1,750 employees. More than 100 active patents are a testament to BELECTRIC’s innovative spirit. In addition to solar power generation, BELECTRIC Drive® concentrates on the combination of photovoltaics and electromobility.
Visit www.belectric.com for further information.


Kolitzheim, 2 August 2013


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