In northern Greece, the juwi group is building a 204 megawatt solar park for the Hellenic Petroleum Group. Climate-friendly electricity for 75,000 households
Start of construction: The project is a challenge due to its size and the hilly terrain with some steep inclines, the dimensions are huge: The solar park is being built on an area of 450 hectares, which corresponds to around 840 soccer fields.
The Greek subsidiary of the German project developer for renewable energies, juwi, has started building Europe’s largest bifacial solar park. The use of bifacial modules increases the energy yield of the 450 hectare Kozani solar park by up to five percent. The regenerative power plant is scheduled to go online at the end of 2021. It will then deliver 300 million kilowatt hours of climate-friendly electricity a year – enough to supply 75,000 Greek households with clean electricity. The investment volume is 130 million euros. Operator will be the Hellenic Patroleum Group.
Commenting on the deal Stephan Hansen, member of juwi’s managing board, said: “This is another major step for the juwi group and in particular for our Greek subsidiary, as it is currently our largest single PV project in the company’s 25 year history. The project highlights the enormous potential of solar energy – not just in Greece but all over the world. We have always believed in the Greek renewable energy market. The Kozani project confirms this persistence.”
Kozani is located approx. 120 kilometers south-west of Thessaloniki in the north of Greece.
Commenting on the start of construction, Stephan Hansen, member of the juwi board of directors said: “This is another milestone for the juwi group and for our Greek subsidiary, as the Kozani project is the largest single project in the company’s almost 25-year history. We have always believed in the Greek renewable energy market. The Kozani project confirms this persistence and underlines once again the enormous potential of solar energy – not only in Greece, but all over the world. “
Takis Sarris, managing director of juwi Hellas, adds: “Solar energy is already the cheapest form of electricity generation in Greece. The technology with bifacial modules reinforces this development again. In this way, we can generate more electricity in less space at even lower costs.”
Bifacial PV modules use solar energy on the front and back of the module. That makes them more efficient and ultimately means that more electricity can be generated in the same area. The concept is not new, but the technology has recently been further developed so that it is not only more efficient, but also less expensive compared to conventional PV modules. Since the modules can also convert reflected and diffuse light into electricity, they achieve an additional electricity yield of up to ten percent compared to conventional modules.
At the state renewable energy auction in April 2019, juwi secured 47 percent of the tendered amount with the Kozani project. Overall, projects with a total volume of 635 megawatts were involved, 437 megawatts were awarded. At the beginning of this year, juwi sold the project to the future operator, the Hellenic Petroleum Group.
