Iqony

Steag Iqony Group, Essen/Germany, has completed the sale of its 51 % stake in Turkish power plant company Isken to Oyak, its long-standing 49 % partner. Steag Iqony Group focuses on executing its growth strategy in its German core market. At the same time, the power plant will remain in experienced hands.

Since 2003, the Isken power plant company has operated the 1,360 MW Sugözü power plant (Figure 1) in the south of Türkiye near the city of İskenderun in a 51/49 % partnership between Steag Iqony Group and Turkish conglomerate Oyak, which is now the sole owner. The power plant remains in familiar and experienced hands.

“This transaction marks the end of over two decades of highly successful German-Turkish collaboration. We are deeply grateful for Oyak’s partnership and wish Isken and its employees all the best for the future,” says Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of Steag Iqony Group. “With this extraordinary step, we are once again strengthening our focus on our German core market, aligning our company even more clearly with our strategic priorities. We invest in markets and business areas in which we can grow in the long term and create sustainable added value – as the recent acquisition of Uniper’s district heating business impressively underscores.”

“With the sale, we are also reducing the complexity of our group, significantly improving our risk profile and creating more scope for investments in our core business,” says Nicole Hildebrand, Member of the Management Board and COO of the Steag Iqony Group.

By divesting from the coal-fired power plant, the Steag Iqony Group significantly improves its carbon footprint – a milestone on the road to climate neutrality by 2040, as Hildebrand emphasizes: “The goal of decarbonization is an important part of our corporate strategy. Sustainable growth and climate protection are not opposites for us – they are the basis of our actions. In this way, we are actively shaping the energy transition.” (Steag Iqony/Si.)

The path to a climate-neutral heating supply in Constance/Germany is picking up speed: The municipal council has given the green light for the establishment of a joint project company between Stadtwerke Konstanz, Constance, and Iqony Energies GmbH, Saarbrücken/Germany. The company, which is part of the Steag Iqony Group, Essen/Germany, works with local authorities and municipal utilities to implement and operate sustainable heating networks (Figure 1) – currently at 25 locations across Germany, with more in the pipeline.

The new company, named “Wärmeversorgung Bodensee-Therme GmbH”, is to implement the first heating network in the city of Constance in the area around the Bodensee-Therme – almost entirely based on renewable environmental heat from Lake Constance, supported by modern large heat pumps. “Together with Stadtwerke Konstanz, we will ensure that the transformation to renewable heat supply is as efficient as possible,” says Andreas Loh, Managing Director of Iqony Energies. “In the coming years, the transition to a climate-neutral heat supply will be one of the biggest challenges for local authorities in terms of planning, but also financially – we are a reliable partner for new district heating projects throughout Germany. ”

The project planned in Constance is a central component of local municipal heating planning. “In Iqony Energies, we have gained an experienced partner who will support us not only professionally but also strategically in the implementation of this forward-looking project,” emphasizes Stadtwerke Managing Director Gordon Appel. Around 80 % of the heat requirement in the planned supply area is accounted for by the Bodensee-Therme, the Kliniken Schmieder and the KWA Parkstift Rosenau. A total of around 14 GWh of heat is to be provided in a climate-friendly manner – enough to meet the heating requirements for space heating and hot water of around 1,000 apartments or single-family homes with a living space of 100 m². An EU and BMWK-funded feasibility study confirmed the viability of the project in 2024 and the project company is equally owned by Stadtwerke Konstanz and Iqony Energies.

Subject to the further course of the project, construction of the heating network is scheduled to begin in 2028. The company is to be formally established by the end of 2025. (Iqony/Si.)

From 2026, the “Steady Green Energy” battery storage system will make Deutsche Bahn’s power supply even more flexible and greener (Figure 1). To this end, the group subsidiary DB Energie and the energy company Iqony GmbH, Essen/Germany, have concluded a Power Storage Agreement (PSA). Both companies agreed on a contract under which DB Energie will use 35 MW of the approximately 50 MW battery storage system for five years. The plant will be built at the Duisburg-Walsum power plant site of the Steag Iqony Group and is expected to go into operation in May 2026. In the future, it will help to enable the further integration of renewables such as wind and solar energy, thus addressing one of the biggest challenges of the energy transition.

“It is a four-hour storage system that can store a total of around 200 MWh of green electricity and provide it as needed,” explains Christian Karalis, co-head of Business Development and responsible for the battery storage project at Iqony. With this facility, Iqony is a pioneer in Germany and also one of the first movers in Europe: “Iqony offers partners with customised Power Storage Agreements (PSA) the opportunity for the first time to contract storage capacity for their portfolio without having to own the assets themselves. We are also responding to the emerging demand for longer storage periods, which are particularly aimed at optimising green portfolios. Typically, storage in the German market currently only has two hours of capacity,” says Karalis. In the future, Iqony also has battery storage projects in preparation at other power plant sites of the Steag Iqony Group.

“Deutsche Bahn will be carbon neutral by 2040. A key lever in achieving this is to increase the share of renewable energies in rail power. This is currently 68 %. But trains also have to run when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing. Iqony’s battery storage system can store surplus electricity from renewables and feed it into the grid when needed. With our share of 140 MWh, electricity for around 3 M km travelled by the ICE can be stored each year. This flexibly usable storage system helps DB to make the power supply for the railways even more sustainable and is another important step on the road to a climate-neutral DB, thus contributing to the implementation of the energy transition throughout Germany,” says Florian Reuter, CEO of DB Energie.

The project is not only innovative in technical terms, but the agreement concluded between the partners as a whole is also forward-looking. Until now, companies had to construct and operate battery storage systems themselves and also bear the financial risks. The PSA as a new contractual construct allows the competencies and needs of the participating companies to be utilised to the mutual advantage of both sides. The market for battery storage is currently in the ramp-up phase but will play an important role in DB’s energy supply in the coming years. “As with our previous green power purchase agreements, I am pleased that DB Energie is now also helping to advance the urgently needed expansion of battery storage in Germany with its commitment,” says Reuter.

“As the leading provider of large-scale battery storage in Germany, we are very pleased about the cooperation with Iqony and about the forward-looking use of the storage facility by DB Energie,” says Markus Meyer, managing director of Fluence Energy GmbH. (Iqony/Si.)

Iqony, the growth division of STEAG Group, Essen/Germany, which specializes in renewable energies, hydrogen projects, decarbonization solutions and the construction of new and hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants, is planning to build an electrolyzer for the production of green, climate-neutral hydrogen at the long-established power plant site in Völklingen-Fenne. The project was classified as an “Important Project of Common European Interest” (IPCEI) by the EU Commission at the beginning of the year and has now been officially awarded national funding by Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Figure 1).

With the IPCEI classification by the European Commission, the German government and the Saarland state government, which is also financially involved, were authorized under European state aid law to spend money from their budgets on project funding. With the acceptance of the funding decision by Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony, the project has reached another important milestone on the way to its implementation. If everything develops as planned, the first hydrogen will be produced in Fenne in 2028.

“With the issue of the funding notification, we are a big step closer to our goal of producing green hydrogen in Völklingen-Fenne and supporting the decarbonization of industry and businesses in Saarland,” Reichel explains. However, receipt of the funding approval is not yet synonymous with a final investment decision.

“The fact that we now have clarity about possible investment funding puts us in a position to hold in-depth talks with potential customers and participate in corresponding tenders for hydrogen supply,” Reichel continued. If talks and tenders are successful, a firm investment decision could be made by the beginning of 2025.

Nevertheless, the interim goal that has now been achieved provides strength and confidence for the next steps on the way to implementing the project. In this respect, the company views the coming weeks and months with confidence: “The basic IPCEI notification by the EU Commission in February has already given the project a noticeable boost. We are now working intensively on creating all the other prerequisites for a final investment decision,” says Anke Langner, Managing Director of Saarbrücken-based Iqony Energies GmbH, which is responsible for the project within the Iqony group of companies. Iqony is the vehicle within the long-established STEAG Group for all future and growth topics in the energy industry.

With the “HydroHub Fenne” project, Iqony and the STEAG Group as a whole are also opening a groundbreaking new chapter in the history of the traditional power plant site in Völklingen. “The fact that the future prospects of the Fenne site beyond hard coal are becoming more concrete with the HydroHub in the very year of the site’s 100th anniversary is a good and important signal for the company, for the region and for the employees,” says Ralf Schiele, COO of STEAG and CEO and COO of Iqony.

In this context, the company would like to thank not only the representatives of the federal German government, but in particular the Saarland state government, which has not only positively accompanied and politically supported the project since the initial planning stages, but has also contributed to the investment funding from its own resources. “The support that our project has received as part of the commitment by, in particular, Minister President Anke Rehlinger and Economics Minister Jürgen Barke to a successful ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in the Saar region was and still is exemplary. I would like to express my gratitude for this on behalf of our employees,” says Reichel.

The state government is also satisfied: “Today is a good day for our region. We have taken an enormous step towards our goal of producing large quantities of climate-neutral hydrogen in Saarland and then transporting it to customers. The substantial contribution that the federal and state governments are making to the project is crucial for the establishment of a comprehensive hydrogen economy. We recognized the importance of hydrogen as a technological bridge to an economically successful and sustainable future for Saarland at an early stage and have campaigned intensively in Berlin and Brussels for all IPCEI projects. I am delighted that Saarland can now make important contributions to the development of hydrogen technologies,” says Saarland Economics Minister Jürgen Barke. (Iqony/Si.)

Iqony GmbH, Essen/Germany, the green growth division of the Essen-based STEAG Group, is merging its solar and wind business into a joint business unit. The subsidiary, under whose umbrella both business areas will be bundled in future, has been operating as Iqony Sustainable Energy Solutions GmbH (Iqony Sens) since 30th May 2024 (Figure 1).

“The integration of the two previous business units into a single, even more efficient and powerful unit is a decisive step for us on our way from project developer to one of the leading European producers of renewable energy,” explains Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labour Director of STEAG and Iqony. Under the leadership of the two Managing Directors André Kremer and Joël Wagner, Iqony Sens will realise synergies along the entire value chain of onshore wind and large-scale photovoltaic (PV).

The business of the new business unit is based on two pillars: Project development and management are bundled in the IPP (Independent Power Producer) division. The electricity, which will be increasingly self-generated in future, will then be marketed via the Group’s own Iqony trading division. The EPC and O&M (Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Operations & Maintenance) division comprises the construction and maintenance of plants in the wind and PV sectors.

“So far, we have been a valued partner primarily for the development, EPC and O&M services of individual PV systems,” says Kremer. “In future, we will dovetail our many years of experience in the solar industry more closely with Iqony’s wind expertise and keep it within the company for the long term in the IPP sector.”

“As an Independent Power Producer, we will not only be able to provide significantly more base load-capable electricity, we are also focusing on a future in which renewable energy sources play the leading role in the global energy market,” adds Wagner.

With the integration of the two areas of solar and wind, Iqony Sens will assume the role of an integrated plant operator and energy producer in addition to its strong position as a project developer and service provider. To date, the company’s own wind and solar parks have an installed capacity of around 250 MW. Iqony is aiming to quadruple this portfolio by the end of the decade.

Iqony e. g. was recently awarded the contract for the planned Mosbach wind farm with an installed capacity of around 61 MW in the Neckar-Odenwald district of Baden-Württemberg. Iqony’s many years of experience in working closely with municipal partners and the local population to realise wind farms, as well as its attractive participation options for landowners, were convincing.

In the PV sector, the realisation of an EPC project in Wensicken­dorf recently began. This will create a PV park with an installed capacity of over 32 MWp. The expected annual generation of over 33,000 MWh will ensure structural savings of an estimated 5,500 t of CO₂e/a.

Last year, the Spanish infrastructure investor Asterion took over Iqony’s parent company STEAG. “This will enable us to accelerate the transformation of our company and invest even more heavily in our own projects in future,” says Reichel. Against this background, the integration of the wind and PV competences is a further significant milestone in the strategic realignment of the STEAG Group as a whole. (Iqony/Si.)

Iqony Fernwärme GmbH, Essen/Germany, and RWE AG, Essen/Germany, have extended their existing contract for the supply of heat from RWE’s Essen-Karnap waste-to-energy plant to Iqony’s district heating network. The new contract will run from 1st January 2025 to 31st Decem­ber 2036.

The waste-to-energy plant in Essen-Karnap has a heat output of 109 MW. In the past two years, the waste heat recovered in Karnap has accounted for more than a third of the heat supplied to household and commercial customers in Essen, Bottrop and Gelsenkirchen through Iqony’s district heating network (Figure 1).

The waste heat generated during thermal waste treatment in Karnap is considered unavoidable and therefore climate-neutral under the German Heat Planning and Decarbonization of Heating Networks Act (Heat Planning Act), which was passed by the Bundestag in December 2023.

The waste heat recovered in Karnap for the district heating supply in the Ruhr region therefore makes an important contribution to achieving the climate targets as set out in the municipal heating plans of the Ruhr region municipalities of Essen, Bottrop and Gelsenkirchen. And the district heating customers of Iqony Fernwärme also benefit from the extended heat supply contract, as the climate-neutral waste heat from Karnap means that Iqony Fernwärme already meets the legal requirement, that one third of the heat used must come from climate-neutral sources by 2030.

Matthias Ohl, Spokesperson for the Management Board of Iqony Fernwärme: “By extending the supply of heat from the waste-to-energy plant in Essen-Karnap, we are ensuring planning and supply security not only for our customers, but also for the municipalities, which are faced with the task of achieving climate-neutral heat supply by 2045. We, as Iqony, want to make a significant contribution to this by providing climate-neutral district heating by then. With the strategic partnership now agreed with RWE, we have laid an important cornerstone for this.”

Kathrin Schmelter, Manager of the RWE waste-to-energy plant in Essen-Karnap: “Iqony and RWE are continuing the success story that has reliably contributed to the district heating supply in the central Ruhr region for decades. We continue to use the energy resulting from the thermal treatment of municipal waste from Essen, Bottrop and Gelsenkirchen to generate electricity and district heating at the Essen-Karnap waste-to-energy plant in a way that conserves resources. By doing so, we remain a reliable partner for the heat transition in the region.”

Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony: “Iqony is one of the largest district heating companies in Germany. In view of the foreseeable growing importance of district heating for achieving climate targets, we want to continue to grow systematically in this area. The long-term extension of the strategic partnership with RWE, that has now been agreed also brings us an important step closer to our declared goal of achieving climate neutrality as a group by 2045.” (Iqony/Si.)

In the summer, the EU Commission announced that the “HydrOxy Hub Walsum” was one of the 41 major industrial projects from across Europe to be invited to start the Innovation Fund Grant Agreement Preparation. Iqony GmbH, Essen/Germany, is happy to announce that the Grant Agreement has been signed with CINEA, the European Executive Agency in charge of managing the program. Amongst the many projects which applied in “Industry Electrification and Hydrogen” topic from the Innovation Fund LSC-2022, the “HydrOxy Hub Walsum” was the only German project to be awarded such financial support (Figure 1).

With the conclusion of the legally binding agreement on EU funding, now signed by both parties, the groundbreaking hydrogen project in Duisburg-Walsum in North Rhine-Westphalia, is entering a decisive phase: “From January 2024, it will now be a matter of project implementation on the ground,” says Tanja Braun, Project Manager for HydrOxy Hub Walsum at Iqony. The application for approval will be submitted in mid-2024 and the decision on which manufacturer will construct the electrolysis plant with an initial capacity of around 150 MW is expected to be made by the autumn.

Iqony is investing an amount in the mid three-digit million range for the construction of the first stage of hydrogen production at the long-established power plant site in Walsum. The agreement now concluded on a grant from the Innovation Fund accounts for around 10 % of the total investment.

Andreas Reichel, CEO of Iqony, comments as follows: “By concluding the grant agreement, we are documenting our clear intention to implement the project at the Walsum site. At the same time, we are taking another important step forward on the path to the successful transformation of our company. And at the same time, we are proud that the HydrOxy Hub Walsum is also a significant contribution to establishing the hydrogen economy in the Ruhr region.”

The final investment decision is planned for 2025. Two years later, in the course of 2027, the first stage of the plant will finally go into operation. “After that, the plan is to increase the plant’s capacity in two-year increments to just over 500 MW by 2031,” says Braun, explaining the further progress of the project. At the same time, she makes it clear that “the funding agreement that has now been concluded only relates to the first of three planned stages of the plant.”

The green, i. e. climate-neutral, hydrogen that will be produced using renewable energies in the future will serve to decarbonize production processes in local and regional industry. In this way, the HydrOxy Hub Walsum not only contributes to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and thus to the achievement of national and European climate protection targets, but also secures the future of the industrial location and the jobs associated with it.

In that respect, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Duisburg also expressly support the project and welcome the grant agreement that has now been concluded as an important milestone on the way to realizing the project.

“Our goal is to make North Rhine-Westphalia the first climate-neutral industrial region in Europe. The key to a sustainable and competitive industry in the future is hydrogen. North Rhine-Westphalia has set itself the target of becoming a central hydrogen hub in Europe and is therefore doing its utmost to support the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. In addition to importing green hydrogen, we need sufficient domestic production capacities. Pioneering projects such as the “HydrOxy Hub Walsum” are contributing to this objective to a large extent,” says Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy and Deputy Prime Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Duisburg’s Mayor Sören Link takes a very similar view: “Hydrogen is the core element in the next stage of structural change in the Ruhr region. Because we want to secure the economic future of the city of Duisburg and the Ruhr region as a whole and preserve local jobs in industry, we set out at an early stage to do whatever we could to support the market ramp-up of the hydrogen economy here. The Iqony project in Walsum is an important building block in this process and I am therefore very pleased that a significant milestone towards its implementation has been reached with the conclusion of the grant agreement.”

The relevance of the project outlined here is also reflected in the EU’s funding commitment: “The binding agreement to fund our project is also proof of its quality. It once again reflects Iqony’s great engineering expertise and comprehensive energy industry know-how. Being aware of these qualities of our team, we are now confidently looking forward to the implementation planning phase,” says Ralf Schiele, COO of Iqony. (Iqony/Si.)

The solar service provider Iqony Solar ­Energy Solutions (SENS), Würzburg/Germany, a subsidiary of Essen-based Iqony GmbH, has completed a new photo­voltaic (PV) project in Eastern Europe as part of its joint venture with the LSG Group. In Senyö/Hungary, a PV park with an output of 63 MWp was installed and commissioned in just six months under the management of SENS LSG (Figure 1). A record-breaking achievement considering the challenges that had to be overcome. This was made possible thanks to the long-term and proven cooperation with partners Green Source and Core Value Capital.

What began with discussions in May 2023 was fully implemented and connected to the electricity grid in November 2023. Within this short period of time, the project team managed to overcome a number of obstacles, such as delivery delays and the adverse ground conditions. Even the site preparation and site clearance proved difficult due to the comparatively large amount of root wood in the subsoil.

In addition, the location had a layer of peat up to 1.50 m below ground level in places. Due to the soil properties, the SENS LSG engineering team implemented additional piles in places to ensure the overall structural stability. Holes were also pre-drilled for a total of 9,000 driven piles.

“Completing and commissioning a project like this within just six months, despite all the adversities, is the result of a strong partnership,” explains Anna Hofmann, Managing Director of Green Source. “And that’s exactly what we found with SENS LSG. Our long-term collaboration enables us to complete such projects extremely efficiently and at high speed,” adds Hofmann.

The PV plant in Senyö is not the first successful project of the SENS LSG joint venture. Three years ago, the company installed 130 solar parks at a total of five locations near Budapest and in the north and east of the country. The total solar output of this first project is 65 MWp and generates 78,000 MWh/a of green electricity.

Since 2020, Hungary has increasingly focused on renewable energy for its energy supply. Since then, PV solutions in particular have gained in importance. The aim is to become independent of fossil fuels and thus increase Hungary’s energy independence. In the future, Hungary’s energy supply based on renewable energy should gradually become more affordable, more secure and more climate friendly.

The Hungarian government has therefore been supporting the expansion and increased the flexibility of the electricity grid with the equivalent of around 433 M € since May 2023. In addition, the establishment and expansion of PV capacity is also being subsidised by the state. In this respect, the general conditions on the Hungarian PV market are also very good due to the availability of many open areas with up to 2,500 h/a of sunshine. This makes the country one of the sunniest places in Europe.

This is also reflected in the Hungarian energy mix. The share of solar energy is already the sixth highest in the world and the third highest in Europe. The project now completed by SENS LSG, with its 95,600 solar modules, will help to ensure that this share continues to rise in the future. The expected 85,000 MWh of electricity that the solar park will generate each year will save around 40,000 t/a of CO₂. This corresponds to the amount of CO₂ that a forest of almost 3.2 million beech trees can bind within a year. This clearly shows the dimension of the CO₂ reduction achieved with the PV park now in operation for Hungary’s overall CO₂ balance.

“The expansion of renewable energy in Hungary is of great importance to SENS. This market offers us the opportunity to drive forward our vision of a sustainable energy future,” says André Kremer, CEO of SENS, describing the relevance of the project. “Green Source and Core Value Capital will actively support us in this. We have been working with both partners for many years and have successfully mastered numerous challenges. We will continue to use the potential of this strong partnership to pave the way for a greener future in Eastern Europe” says Kremer, looking forward to a successful future together. (Iqony/Si.)

 

After intensive preparations, Iqony Energies GmbH, Saarbrücken/Germany, a subsidiary of the energy company Iqony GmbH, Essen/Germany, has decided to modernise and convert its existing district heating generation plants and district heating network on the site of the former Camphausen mine into an innovative and climate-neutral heat generation system (Figure 1). Waste heat from mine water from RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, will be tapped as a new heat source and made available for the district heating supply to the town of Sulzbach. This will avoid annual CO₂ emissions of more than 6,000 t in the future.

The project had already received funding approval in December 2020 as part of a tender for “Innovative CHP energy systems” (iKWK) from the Federal Network Agency. Combined heat and power (CHP) plants generate electricity and heat at the same time and are therefore particularly efficient and resource-saving. However, extensive preliminary planning, many technical challenges and regulatory decisions in Berlin meant that the project could not yet be realised. Now, however, all the requirements have been met and realisation can begin.

In technical terms, the project consists of three coordinated components: a conventional CHP plant, the renewable heat source in the form of mine water and a heat pump that utilises the residual heat of around 36 °C contained in the mine water for the district heating supply.

“We are delighted to be able to help make a climate-neutral contribution to the heat supply with the mine water that we provide to Iqony. This mine water has a temperature that can definitely be used to generate heat,” says Michael Drobniewski, RAG Regional Representative for Saarland. Appropriate feasibility studies are therefore being carried out at all mine water drainage sites.

“Pumping the mine water naturally makes it much easier to tap into this ­unusual source of heat,” explains Dietmar Bies, who is responsible for the project on behalf of Iqony. The heat obtained in this way ensures a corresponding reduction in the use of conventional energy sources, meaning that the Camphausen CHP plant saves around 6,300 t of CO₂ emissions every year.

Because the third part of the plant, the conventional CHP plant, is also fuelled by an energy source classified as climate-neutral, the plant as a whole is already completely emission-free.

Anke Langner, CEO of Iqony Energies: “We use mine gas as fuel in the conventional CHP plant, which has a high methane content. When released into the atmosphere unburnt, methane is more than twenty times more harmful to the climate than CO₂. Accordingly, politicians have only recently confirmed the ice classification of mine gas as a climate-neutral fuel, which is why the use of mine gas as a fuel is also a sensible measure in the interests of the climate.”

What’s more, there will still be sufficient fuel available in the coming years. However, the legal categorisation of mine gas as an energy source was in limbo in the political debate for a long time. As a result, the realisation of the project in Camphausen also took longer than originally planned.

For the users of district heating in the municipalities of Camphausen and Sulzbach, including a hospital and industrial and commercial enterprises, this in turn means that the district heating supplied in future from the plant on the former colliery site is already green, i. e., climate-neutral.

It is not only against this background that Stadtwerke Sulzbach, as the local district heating supplier, and Iqony Energies have decided to continue their proven and successful collaboration and extend the corresponding cooperation agreement by 20 years. “We are delighted that we are continuing our cooperation and at the same time opening a new, climate-neutral chapter for the local heat supply with the conversion of the plant in Camphausen, which is now beginning,” says Langner. And Iqony has another piece of good news to report to the citizens of the two municipalities: “From a technical point of view, our plant still has potential to increase the generation of green heat. This means that nothing stands in the way of a possible expansion of a truly climate-neutral district heating supply on the generation side,” says Langner.

Construction work began in October 2023 and will take around 14 months. The plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2024. During the conversion phase, the supply of heat to the communities will be ensured at all times by means of mobile heating centres. (Iqony/RAG /Si.)

SENS – Iqony Solar Energy Solutions Ibérica starts the construction of two photovoltaic (PV) parks in Pepino in the Spanish province of Toledo. Both parks, known as Pepino 20 and Pepino 3, will consist of 40,000 modules that will avoid the emission of more than 24 t/a of CO₂ into the atmosphere, which will considerably reduce the carbon footprint of the entire area (Figure 1).

Pepino 20 and Pepino 3, which will occupy an area of 59 ha, will have a total capacity of 25.54 MWp and will produce 51,495 MW/h of energy per year. Both parks will provide green energy to 15,000 households.

“SENS is a company deeply committed to sustainability, care for the environment and reducing its carbon footprint. The construction of these two PV parks is another major step forward in our journey to build a better and cleaner society,” says Oscar Page, CEO of SENS Iberia, subsidiary of the German solar provider SENS, Würzburg.

SENS Ibérica started its operations in Spain in 2010. It currently has offices in Madrid, Seville and Lisbon. The company, which has just over 100 employees in Spain and Portugal, combines local knowledge with international experience, which has enabled it to experience rapid and significant growth.

In addition to the development and construction of large-scale PV plants, SENS offers innovative PV self-consumption solutions for trade and industry. The company has another cross-cutting business line dedicated to the operation and maintenance of PV parks, which is very active in other innovative solutions. (Iqony/Si.)