Enerqos begins construction of ‘solar farms’

NextEnergy Capital, the European merchant bank specialising in renewable energy, has chosen Italy for its next solar power investments.

In recent weeks Enerqos has given the green light for work to start on the construction of the first four ‘solar farm' installations in Apulia, Italy. An agreement signed between the two companies on the 12 June 2008 outlines the construction of solar farms in Europe for a total investment of €1bn euros. The value of these initial projects is approximately €20m Euros.

The construction of the four farms, each with a 1MW production capacity, will be undertaken by Enerqos.

One of these farms will feature the biaxial Solar Totem tracking technology, patented by Enerqos, which is said to allow performance to be increased by 38% compared to conventional fixed mounting systems.

All solar farms will be equipped with a remote-management system, based on the Osiride PVE operating system also patented by Enerqos, to provide advanced service management for monitoring performance and the timely detection of any operational anomalies.

Enerqos will manage all phases of construction: development and design, procurement of materials, systems-building/ management, maintenance and a twenty year performance guarantee in collaboration with a major European financial institution.

Under the agreement with Enerqos, NextEnergy currently has licensing permission under way for additional facilities in Apulia and Sicily, of which 37 MW will start construction later this year. Enerqos will also build additional plants for NextEnergy in Greece and France at a later date.