- ROC deadline met despite challenging weather conditions in early 2014
- 94,500 Q.PRO-G3 solar panels installed in three-week record time and put into operations before March 31
- Partnership between Hanwha Q CELLS and AGR covers development, planning, construction, and high performance modules
Despite severe weather conditions, the park in Stowbridge, Cambridgeshire, England, was constructed and grid-connected ahead of the changes in ROC at the end of March. More than 94,500 Q.PRO-G3 solar panels were installed in only three weeks. The ground-mounted plant will generate around 22,445 MWh of clean energy per year; enough to power 24,800 local households and save approximately 9,650 tons of carbon emissions each year.
AGR, a leading UK renewable energy developer specializing in utility scale PV and medium scale wind, led the project development of the Stowbridge project. Hanwha Q CELLS, the largest European PV provider and expert for Power Plant Solutions, was in the lead for supplying its premium Engineered in Germany PV modules as well as construction and delivery of the PV park under an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contract. Ingenious Clean Energy is part of the market-leading financial services group Ingenious, and will sell the clean electricity from the PV Park under the 1.6 ROCs scheme which was in place in the UK until 31 March 2014.
Sebastian Speight, MD of Ingenious Clean Energy, said: Putting the Stowbridge PV Park in operations ahead of the changes in ROC´s scheme was one of our top priorities and quite a challenge given the heavy rainfalls in the initial constructions stages. Thanks to the full commitment and outstanding work of Hanwha Q CELLS and AGR the Power Plant was grid connected on time and has since been delivering very attractive and reliable yields."
"We are very happy to have teamed up with Hanwha Q CELLS on this project in such a high-flying way," said Oliver Breidt, one of the founders and co-owners of AGRenewables. "Together we can deliver fast and reliable development and EPC capabilities as well as attractive LCOE." The competitive LCOE [levelized cost of electricity] of the power plant are a consequence of its low BOS [balance of system] cost, low running cost and best in class yields. The latter two are ensured by the high quality and high performance Q CELLS solar modules. Additionally the minimal construction times and the successive connection to the grid with cascade structures reduce cost further and ensure the earliest possible yields of the power plant.
"The Stowbridge project underlines that investors can rely on Hanwha Q CELLS to deliver complete power plant solution services and reliable ROI even in challenging conditions said Frank Danielzik, Hanwha Q CELLS Vice President Development / Sales & EPC. Hanwha Q CELLS has a proven track record of more than 700 MW of large scale power plant solutions around the globe and is one of only a few players, offering development, planning and construction work as well as top-quality PV panels from one source. Moreover, Hanwha Q CELLS provides financial stability as part of the Korean Top-Ten and FORTUNE Global 500 company Hanwha Group.
