A somewhat different-from-the-ordinary ground-breaking ceremony for a 2.5 Megawatt photovoltaic power plant took place in Unterbreizbach, Thuringia, on June 26th.
Instead of breaking grounds with a spade, Mayor Roland Ernst and operating company EEUGs CEO Mrs Adler got their hands on the pile-driver and set the first of several hundred ramming foundations into the earth. EPC is in the hands of PV expert SunEnergy Europe from Hamburg/Germany, who have already installed several megawatt-size solar power plants on brownfield areas.
The Unterbreizbach PV installation is erected on the ash dump of a potash mining company which used to be powered by coal power plant. Technically, the power generated from the modules will cover approximately half of the community's electricity demand. As SunEnergy Europes CEO, Dr. Hartwig Westphalen, puts it, "We are always delighted to witness a part of the energy transition as happens here in Unterbreizbach, where clean energy supersedes the era of fossile and nuclear energy."
Above-mentioned EEUG, the operating company, belongs to the Unterbreizbach community who expand their investment in renewable energy. Focus of the activities lies on local value added chain: the largest proportion of the trades involved in the construction comes from the area.
Mayor Roland Ernst sets an additional focus on the community's sustainability activities, hoping that " [ ] the solar power plant will have as positive of an effect as the reforestation in progress. With our solar power plant I am positive that Unterbreizbach is well prepared for the future." EEUG's CEO Christa Adler keeps her fingers crossed for a smooth and safe construction period and looks forward to the official starting of operations by the end of August hopefully in full sunshine!
