STEAG Solar Energy Solutions SENS

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.)

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.)

 

In Berching-Oening, a Bavarian village located just under 30 km north of Ingolstadt, STEAG Solar Energy Solutions GmbH (SENS), Würzburg/Germany, has built a ground-mounted solar farm with a capacity of 15 MWp for the local Altmühl-Jura Energiegenossenschaft eG (AJE) energy cooperative (Figure 5). The new plant complements an existing wind farm and provides a significant increase in the

amount of renewables-based energy supplying people in the region.

For the AJE as the initiator of the project, it is clear that renewable energy production has to be further expanded. Several photovoltaic (PV) plants in the vicinity of the village are already in planning. The declared goal of AJE is to actively shape the energy transitionin the region.

The first project on the way to achieving this goal was completed by SENS after the cooperative itself had performed the project planning of the solar park. “We had a tight schedule for this project,” Thomas Schmidtner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AJE, reports. “But in SENS we have found an experienced Bavarian partner who has supported us in the best possible way as the EPC contractor for our ambitious undertaking.”

Specifically, SENS as an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) service provider built the new solar farm in the southern Upper Palatinate with an installed capacity of around 15 MWp in the last few months. Over 25,000 solar modules were installed on an area of 12.5 ha. The climate-neutral electricity generated is then fed into the distribution grid via the Oening substation.

With a power generation of around 16,000 MWh/a, 4,000 households in the region can in future be supplied with renewable energy. This corresponds to a permanent saving of around 8,000 t/a of CO₂ emissions.

“We were very impressed by the activities of AJE and the palpable will and motivation of the entire region to work together to drive the energy transition forward and make it a success,” says Fabian Herr, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SENS.

Herr was on site together with SENS project manager Harry Rauch at the groundbreaking ceremony in Oening and could literally feel the energy of the stakeholders involved. “With our Good Energy, we can optimally support the municipality in its goal of driving forward the expansion of renewables as quickly as possible. Despite all the current hurdles in the existing supply chains, we completed the solar farm in the shortest possible time.”

In addition to the existing wind farm in Oening, solar energy will now also become an important pillar of the regional energy mix in the community. Thanks to the further solar projects already planned by the energy cooperative, this importance will increase even more in the future. SENS will gladly continue to support AJE as an experienced and reliable partner in the regional energy transition. (STEAG/Si.)

In Montecchio Emilia in northern Italy, STEAG Solar Energy Solutions GmbH (SENS), Würzburg/Germany, is planning and constructing a further solar farm on the site of a former quarry for the investor KGAL Investment Management GmbH & Co KG (Figure 1). The plant will be completed in the coming months and will have a capacity of 17 MWp. This means that the new solar farm will be able to supply the region with around 25 M kWh/a of green electricity. With up to 10 h/d of sunshine, the region is an ideal location for generating power using photovoltaics (PV). The Italian subsidiary SENS Italia is responsible for implementing the project.

Since the investor KGAL and SENS can already look back on several successful and jointly implemented PV projects, initiation of the project took place in a record-breaking four weeks from the first meeting to conclusion of the contract. In addition to the relationship of mutual confidence and trust that the two partners share as a result of their many years of cooperation, this is primarily due to the support provided by the legal advisors DWF (for SENS) and Orrick (for KGAL).

“We are once again delighted with the professional and extremely rapid preparation by the SENS team,” says Michael Ebner, Director of Sustainable Infrastructure at KGAL. For KGAL and SENS, the project represents a continuation of their long-standing partnership. The two companies have already worked together successfully, e. g., in Italy and Spain.

Construction of the project was scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2022. SENS Italia will act as the project developer and EPC partner until completion at the end of the year. That means that in addition to designing the project, the solar experts at the Italian SENS subsidiary will also take care of the turnkey construction of the solar farm and the subsequent operation of the plant. The latter also includes the plant management, feeding of the renewable energy into the regional power grid and subsequent operation and maintenance services.

When the solar farm is connected to an existing substation, the Emilia Romagna region in northern Italy will in future benefit from 25 M kWh/a of electricity generated from a renewable source. This PV farm alone will save around 6,250 t/a of climate-damaging CO₂ emissions.

The new PV plant in Montecchio Emilia is a special success for the Italian staff and the SENS team as a whole. This is because SENS was awarded a subsidized tariff for the plant in an auction held by the Italian government. This success not only confirms the good prospects of the solar farm itself, but at the same time underlines the high regard in which SENS is held as a developer of ambitious PV projects in Southern Europe. This is also reflected in the fact that so far there are only a few PV plants of this size in Italy that have been developed to the construction stage with the help of a subsidized tariff.

However, the current project in Montecchio Emilia is only an intermediate step on the way to achieving much more ambitious expansion targets. In the next few years, another nearby construction phase will follow, as will other SENS projects in surrounding districts and regions with a total capacity of around 60 MWp. When these are completed, the plants in the region will have a total power generation from renewable energy sources of around 100 M kWh/a.

“With this project pipeline, we are getting closer and closer to the establishment of the first gigawatt of capacity in Italy,” explains Sarah Herresthal, Managing Director of SENS Italia. “I am incredibly proud of the entire team, which is working day after day to ensure that the expansion of renewables in Italy continues to progress. This will also allow us to reach our goal of building another 3 GWp of capacity across Italy by 2025,” says the SENS country manager, looking forward to the impending projects. (STEAG/Si.)

STEAG Solar Energy Solutions GmbH (SENS), Würzburg/Germany, a subsidiary of Essen-based energy company STEAG GmbH and a specialist for photovoltaic (PV) projects, will be building a solar farm with output of 50 MWp in the eastern English county of Norfolk in the months ahead (Figure 1). The permission to build the facility on previously agricultural farmland near the town of King’s Lynn has just recently been granted. In addition to the solar plant, the project includes a coupled storage system for temporary storage of up to 15 MWh of green energy.

SENS UK, the British national subsidiary of SENS, is cooperating in this project with Namene Solar Light Company Ltd, an internationally-based provider of solar technology and services. Together, the partners will construct the solar park on farmland that was previously used for intensive farming. “The project will therefore not only provide climate-friendly energy, but will also give the soil on which the plant is built the chance to regenerate,” says Christian Kleinhans, who is responsible for the project at SENS.

With a calculated yield of 55 GWh/a, the new solar farm will be able to supply around 14,700 British households with zero-emission green electricity in the future, avoiding around 11,700 t/a in CO₂ emissions. “Thanks to the coupled electricity storage system, solar energy can be temporarily stored during periods of weaker demand and made available at a later time when demand is high or when there is less sunlight,” Kleinhans explains. The entire plant is designed for a service life of 40 years.

It is not purely the energy yield that sets the project apart, but also its comprehensive sustainability approach. In cooperation with the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, a management plan is being developed that will provide for additional ecological measures on and around the site. “One of the plans is to plant a hedge about 1 km long around the solar farm, providing habitat for a wide variety of animal and plant species,” Kleinhans continues, highlighting that the PV system would thus also contribute to increasing local biodiversity. “Flower strips with wildflowers are also part of the ecological concept for the site,” he adds.

For SENS, the new UK project is only the prelude to further activities. Together with its project partner Namene Solar, the company intends to add a further 200 MW of solar generating capacity to the UK grid over the coming two years.

SENS has been operating on the British market for many years now and has already carried out a number of large-scale projects as O&M provider. This renders the solar experts predestined for making a relevant contribution to achieving the British government’s climate goals, which include a 78 % cut in CO₂ emissions by 2035 compared with 1990s levels. This goal can only be achieved with a further significant expansion of solar energy – a task which, according to opinion polls, meets the approval of around 80 % of Britons. (STEAG/Si.)

SENS LSG, a German-Austrian joint venture in the field of photovoltaics (PV) which was only founded at the end of 2020, is significantly advancing the energy transition in Greece. Together with the LSG Group from Vienna/Austria, SENS is to construct solar PV power plants with a total capacity of 480 MW in Greece in the coming months (Figure 1), and further PV farms shall be developed. STEAG Solar Energy Solutions GmbH, or SENS for short, is based in Würzburg/Germany and is a subsidiary of the energy company STEAG GmbH, Essen/Germany.

With 348 d and 2,800 h/a of sunshine, sunny Greece offers ideal conditions for power generation using solar energy as a renewable source. SENS LSG is now making use of the natural advantages of this location. In a total of nine project clusters together comprising 22 sub-projects, the young joint venture SENS LSG, as the project developer with responsibility for design and construction of the plants as well as O&M services, will establish systems with a capacity of 480 MWp in a first step, with construction scheduled to begin in 2022. Long-standing finance partners Green Source and Core Value Capital are also involved.

“We are pleased to be able to contribute together with our partners to the restructuring of the energy sector, leading to CO₂ savings in Greece. With the development of new solar projects, we are building on activities in Greece that started as early as 2010, and would now like to expand our long-standing relationship,” explains Christian Kleinhans, Head of Project Development at SENS, commenting on the Greek venture.

The project not only benefits from the climatic conditions in Greece. The political conditions are also favorable, as the Greek government wishes to make greater use of the country’s enormous PV potential and vigorously press ahead with the energy turnaround before the end of this decade. Under the terms of a National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), the expansion of wind and solar power is being accelerated, following the country’s extreme dependence on fossil fuels even in the recent past.

Although some progress was made in the development of energy from renewable sources in the last decade, the country’s economic situation and the lack of investment meant that this was initially very slow. The aim of Greek policy is to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. That requires a rapid and tangible expansion of renewables. The plan is to build around 10 GW of new wind and solar power plants in Greece by 2030.

This is where SENS LSG’s project comes in and, on the basis of current planning, will play an important role in the intended move to generation from renewables. In this respect, the German-Austrian joint venture is making a significant contribution to the success of the energy transition in Greece (STEAG/Si.)

STEAG Solar Energy Solutions GmbH (SENS), Würzburg/Germany, and the Czech-Dutch company Greenbuddies Energy BV, based in Eindhoven/Netherlands, will in future join forces on the photovoltaic (PV) market in the BeNeLux countries (Figure 1). The aim is to offer ground-mounted PV projects and associated services in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

From the Greenbuddies branch in Eindhoven headed by Jos Schlangen, utility scale projects are to be developed jointly in the future. Currently, the first PV parks are expected to be ready for construction by the beginning of 2023. In the medium term, the partners have set themselves the goal of realising a portfolio of 250 MWp by 2025. It is envisaged that SENS will plan, develop and build the projects as general contractor (EPC) and subsequently operate them as service provider (O&M).

SENS benefits from already having relevant experience in the three-country market: “For us, the Benelux countries are the logical extension of our existing activities in Europe. We still see enormous potential in this market, even though there are already existing players and projects there”, explains André Kremer, Managing Director of SENS. The PV service provider has already been active in the Dutch market for several years and has realised EPC projects there in the field of rooftop PV and ground-mounted PV. With the 12 MWp Leeuwarden solar park, the company won the Frisian Energy Prize in 2019.

In this respect, the cooperation with Greenbuddies – development, installation and construction company present on many Western markets of EU – fits perfectly into SENS’ growth strategy. The STEAG subsidiary with its own subsidiaries in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the UK is pursuing ambitious goals in Europe and beyond. Clear evidence of the company’s expansion course is not least the doubling of the number of employees in the last three years. “Against this background, we are always on the lookout for committed partners with a similar mindset. I am very much looking forward to working with the Greenbuddies, who can identify with our “good energy” just as we can,” says Kremer.

Indeed, Greenbuddies and SENS are characterised by a very similar business philosophy. The chemistry between the partners was therefore right from the start. Aleš Spáčil, co-owner and sales manager of Greenbuddies, agrees: “Fortunately, we were immediately on the same wavelength with SENS and look forward to making our contribution to the energy transition in the BeNe-Lux countries together. Our mission is to make our planet greener and more sustainable. This connects our companies and gives us the drive to successfully realise as many projects as possible together.” (STEAG/Si.)

With immediate effect STEAG Solar Energy Solutions, Würzburg/Germany, a subsidiary of the energy company STEAG GmbH, Essen/Germany, is cooperating in a new joint venture with the LSG Group from Vienna/Austria. The long-standing partners and PV experts will in future be known to customers as SENS LSG. Together their focus will be on the photovoltaics markets of Eastern Europe.

Never change a winning team – is perhaps the best description of the collaboration that André Kremer, Managing Director of SENS, and Karl Göth, Managing Director of the LSG Group, have now confirmed with their signatures (Figure 1). With the conclusion of a new joint venture agreement the two partners have created the official basis for continuing their successful cooperation. SENS and the Austrian PV service provider have been working closely together on a range of PV projects since 2015.

“For years we have held LSG in the highest esteem – both professionally and, especially, personally. It was therefore clear from the very beginning that we would also continue our joint activities under the umbrella of STEAG,” says Kremer with satisfaction. The target is to build up a project portfolio of around 1,000 MW over the next five years.

The partners have their sights set mainly on the development and construction of solar parks as well as service operations in Eastern Europe and beyond. The focus in the early stages is on Hungary, Romania and Greece. The initial projects in Hungary are already under construction. Ground-mounted PV systems, e. g., with a total output of 65 MW are currently being built at five locations in Hungary, with completion scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2021.

Since 2015 the current STEAG subsidiary SENS and the LSG Group have together constructed large-scale PV installations with a total capacity of over 230 MWp. Outstanding projects have been implemented in Mongolia, Moldova, Russia and Australia, among other countries. In Mongolia, e. g., a 30 MW park was built under challenging conditions in the heart of the Gobi desert. And in Australia two PV projects in Queensland were successfully completed and connected to the grid. These are just two examples of the excellent cooperation between the two experienced partners. Within the framework of the new joint venture the teams will, as in the past, support each other in planning, project development, construction management and the purchase of components.

“We are delighted that we are now continuing our cooperation in this form,” stated Göth during the signing ceremony in Würzburg, adding: “Our collaboration is characterised by an exceptionally supportive and cooperative relationship, combining professionalism and reliability on the one hand with a great deal of enthusiasm and commitment on the other. For us, working with SENS means not only successful projects but also a very special kind of teamwork”. (STEAG/Si.)

In the sunny country of Spain photovoltaics (PV) is to be given a massive boost – this was the goal set at the end of 2018 by the Spanish government, which then created the legal framework for its implementation. Würzburg’s STEAG Solar Energy Solutions (SENS) GmbH, part of the STEAG Group since the summer of 2019, is supporting this strategic course towards a green energy future and is now once again involved in a major PV project in the south of Spain (Figure 1).

In the Andalusian region of Almeria four ground-mounted solar parks with a total installed capacity of 180 MWp are to be constructed under the project name “Tinosa”. This continues the successful development of the Madrid-based SENS subsidiary STEAG Solar Energy Solutions Iberica. The contract includes the planning and construction of turnkey installations and the associated 220 kV grid connection. The PV parks will be built in a consortium with the project developer Aurinka International.

If the measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic permit this, construction of the first solar park will start in the second quarter of 2020. Two further parks are expected to follow in the autumn of this year, with construction work on the last section scheduled to start in the spring of 2021. Thanks to the geographical location of the sites, the yield forecasts are extremely promising. The plants will feed a total of over 380,000 MWh of electricity into the grid each year. In purely mathematical terms, this is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of almost 110,000 households.

The experts at SENS are not unfamiliar with the Spanish market – on the contrary, the company has been operating there since 2007 in both engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracting and in operation and maintenance. Since 2018 SENS has also placed a strong focus on its own development of PV projects: “We have always believed in the market, even in the difficult times, and are now all the more pleased that developments are picking up speed again,” says SENS Managing Director André Kremer.

The Spanish market for renewable energies has seen a lot of change since the relevant royal decree was issued in 2018. Far-reaching liberalisation and the ambitious goals of the National Energy and Climate Plan have made a significant contribution to making the market more dynamic.

SENS is also experiencing this growing demand both in the key account business and in the industrial customer sector, as well as in the internal-consumption field. In addition to EPC contracts, the company is currently also working on its own developments. SENS has recently strengthened its Spanish base with a further office in Seville, and the local team is growing steadily. Looking towards the future Kremer states: “We are delighted to be able to continue our Iberian success story with this new project. At the moment, further projects are coming up and we expect to have installed around 500 MW in Spain by the end of 2021 – mostly based on our own developments”. (STEAG/Si.)

STEAG Solar Energy Solutions (SENS), the most recent subsidiary of the STEAG Group, Essen/Germany, is growing steadily in the field of renewable energy. André Kremer, Managing Director of SENS, and Matej Lednicky, Head of Transaction Management Infrastructure with the investment company KGAL Investment Management GmbH & Co. KG, confirmed their cooperation in Italy when they signed the contract in Milan.

In Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, the joint venture will develop up to 440 MW of open-space photovoltaic (PV) capacity. This is the largest project volume that the Würzburg-based STEAG subsidiary has ever implemented. The installations will be able to provide over 350,000 households with CO₂-free energy (Figure 1).

This major project involves a total of six solar parks in Sicily. The installations will be erected in the provinces of Palermo and Trapani within a radius of around 40 km. Construction of the first section is scheduled to start at the end of 2020. “Our latest subsidiary is getting off to a great start with this major order. Our confidence in the expertise of SENS on the market for photovoltaic systems is already paying off after only a short time as a member of the STEAG Group,” says Joachim Rumstadt, Chairman of the Management Board of STEAG. By the end of 2021 all the parks are to be directly connected to the network of the Italian grid operator Terna by means of a newly-built transformer station.

“We are delighted to have such a prestigious partner and investor as KGAL for this demanding project in Italy,” says Kremer. For SENS and the investment company from Grünwald near Munich the project development in Sicily represents a further milestone in a long and successful partnership.

“For many years we have trusted in the expertise of SENS for the construction, operation and maintenance of our PV systems. I am sure that we will once again work together efficiently and in a spirit of mutual confidence,” says Lednicky. In addition to the implementation of several large-scale PV installations in Italy, for more than ten years now the Italian SENS service team has been maintaining various installations on behalf of KGAL as the service provider with overall responsibility.

With this project in Sicily, SENS (formerly GILDEMEISTER energy solutions) is once again entering the Italian solar-park development business. After founding the subsidiary in 2009 with locations in Milan and Lecce, SENS has designed and constructed a range of large-scale PV projects. Today the company is one of the largest providers of technical services for PV systems in Italy and offers a comprehensive range of services with its own technicians nationwide.

The currently planned systems with their total capacity of up to 440 MWp are only the starting point for further activities. “Italy, Spain and Germany will be the three most important European markets for SENS in 2020. We see enormous potential here – and not just from our own developments,” states Kremer. (STEAG/Si.)