When completed in mid 2012, it is expected to be the largest solar power installation on a roof in Poland, marking Photon Energys strong foothold in the market.
The installation will be placed on the roof of the Upper Silesian water utility company – Górno?l?skie Przedsi?biorstwo Wodoci?gów S.A. (GPW), the largest water supplier in Poland, which will also act as an investor in the project.
In partnership with Photon Energy, RenCraft Sp. z o.o, a company that has hitherto been specialising in energy generation from biomass, participated in and won the public tender to design and construct a photovoltaic installation on the roof of the GPWs premises in Ruda Slaska. The role of Photon Engineering s.r.o., a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of Photon Energy, is to provide engineering works, technology procurement and construction services.
Completion of the 311 kWp rooftop solar power plant will mark Photon Energys entrance into the Polish PV market, to which the company has been inclining, notwithstanding the countrys weak support for renewable energy sources (RES).
Having been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, NewConnect segment since 2008, Photon Energy is known in financial and investment circles. Now, partnership with RenCraft Sp. z o.o will establish Photon Energy as an experienced EPC provider and enable completion of a power plant that will take up a substantial share of the currently total installed PV capacity in Poland.
Despite the absence of support scheme for photovoltaics, Poland is recognised to have a large untapped potential in solar energy industry. Some 1.3 MW of installed capacity are being reported, yet according to the Energy Regulatory Office only four PV installations are functioning, feeding into the grid 0.1 MW of total capacity. Under the existing conditions, producers of electricity from RES receive one green certificate per every MWh of electricity generated, which can then be sold for PLN 280 (equivalent of 63).
Such a system does not differentiate between various RES, thus being more beneficial for energy producers from wind and biomass. If the new long-awaited law on RES is not passed in the upcoming years, Poland will undoubtedly have hard time meeting its 2030 targets to have installed 32 MW of PV capacity.
Contrary to the global tendency of solar energy companies to declare financial hardships, Photon Energy is expanding its global activities by entering new markets, particularly Germany, Italy, Australia and now Poland. Being a downstream integrated enterprise, Photon Energy is not involved in technology manufacturing, which enables the company to benefit from sharply declining prices of PV components.
