Wirsol

Germany

Wirsol solar test park Bruhrain

In 2007 the company opened the Bruhrain solar test park in close proximity to its headquarters. At that time, a total surface area of 12 hectares made it the largest solar park^[3] in the state of Baden-Württemberg. With almost 31 000 modules installed, the plant generates an output up to 2.258 MWp.

In April 2010 the company installed a photovoltaic system at the Hockenheimring German Formula One race track with a rated output of 848.88 kWp. A total of 4 716 solar modules were installed along 405 metres of the track.^[4]

One of the largest projects finalized by Wirsol in the financial year 2011 was located in Mixdorf in Brandenburg, where the company built a system with a peak performance of 24.1 MWp on the 81-hectare site of a former Russian fuel depot.^[5]

Likewise, in 2012 Wirsol’s high-output Luckau solar park, constructed on a conversion site in Brandenburg and with a performance of almost 21 MWp, was connected to the grid. The solar power plant is located at the former military airport in Alteno.^[6]

At the end of July 2013, the company completed construction of what was, at that time, Europe’s largest crystalline roof-top solar system. The photovoltaic system, located at freight forwarding company Pfenning Logistics’ 11-hectare distribution centre in Heddesheim, northern Baden, has a peak output of 8.1 MWp.^[7]

The total output of Wirsol’s projects in 2015 was in excess of 150 megawatts.

In 2016 Wirsol commenced its first tenants’ electricity projects in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, working in partnership with municipal housing associations and utility companies.

Wirsol has been participating in work on the intelligent grid in Baden-Württemberg since February 2017. The company is involved in the C/sells platform, the “showcase for intelligent energy – digital agenda for the energy revolution” (SINTEG), a funding programme initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Economics.

In August 2017 Wirsol realized two new large roof-top systems for long-established world market leader SEW -EURODRIVE. A total of four plants at two locations now generate total output in excess of two megawatts.

Wirsol’s Straubenhardt wind park, comprising 11 wind turbines generating a total output of approx. 33 megawatts, was connected to the grid in March 2018. The park is capable of supplying some 22 000 households with green electricity.

International

In 2012 Wirsol founded the “Wirsol RE Maldives” joint venture with Renewable Energy Maldives (REM) to install solar power stations on the Maldives.^[8][9] Further international projects are located in Spain (Bovera, Barcelona, Cáceres), England (Cornwall), Italy (Mola di Bari), Belgium (Wilrijk) and the US state of Colorado (Fort Collins).^[10]

In 2013 the company announced that work to build a 22-MWp solar park on the Japanese island of Honshu had begun and gave the starting signal for the Monte Plata solar park in the Dominican Republic.^[11] The latter park has, in the meantime, been sold to Soventix.^[12] Construction of the park in Japan was scheduled to begin in 2014.^{[out of date]}

With the Solarpark Lerchenborg (61 MWp), built in 2015, the company built what was, at the time, Scandinavia’s largest solar park.^[13] January 2017 saw the announcement of the start-up of the largest solar park in the Netherlands, considered to be a flagship project ^[14] and with overall output of 30 MWp.

Also in 2015, Wirsol installed Switzerland’s sixth largest supermarket roof-top system. The system’s total output is approx. 1.94 MWp.

In February 2017 Wirsol Energy Ltd refinanced 10 solar parks with overall output of 61 MWp and financing of 46 million pounds.

Wirsol entered the Australian market in March 2017, investing a total of 380 million Australian dollars and founding a subsidiary headquartered in Sydney. The company’s first projects were three solar parks – “Whitsunday” and “Hamilton” in Queensland and “Gannawarra” in Victoria – generating a total of 198 MWp.

April 2017 saw the company announce the connection of 19 solar parks to the grid. These sites, all located in England and Northern Ireland, generate outputs ranging from 20.5 MWp to 2.5 MWp, thus supplying a total of 105.5 MWp electricity. They were financed with loans amounting to approx. GBP 88 million.

Wirsol’s office in Sydney, Australia was inaugurated in May 2017.

In May 2017 the company also sold part of its solar park portfolio in the United Kingdom to investor Rockfire Capital. The portfolio comprises 19 solar parks, of which two are located in Northern Ireland. The 19 solar energy sites, each with outputs ranging from 2.5 MWp to 20.5 MWp, generate a total output of some 105 MWp. Taken in total, the portfolio produces enough energy to generate almost 100 gigawatt hours of electricity each year.

Wirsol became Australia’s largest solar park project developer in November 2017, achieving a market share of just under 12 percent. In addition to this, the company accounted for 19.5 percent of all projects being realized throughout Australia at that time.

December 2017 saw Wirsol Energy Ltd acquire two non-government subsidized solar power plants in the United Kingdom – Outwood Solar Park, Essex with 7 MWp output and Trowse-Newton Solar Park, Norfolk with output of 9 MWp.

Following a bidding procedure for a government tender in Australia, in March 2018 Wirsol Energy und Edify Energy were awarded the contract for a large-scale storage facility. A 25MW / 50MWh Tesla lithium-ion battery storage facility - the Gannawarra Energy Storage System – will be integrated into the 50MW Gannawarra Solar Farm.