World's largest solar power station to open in Germany

BERLIN -- - Shell Solar GmbH and German solar firm GEOSOL announced recently they are going to build the world's largest solar power station south of Leipzig in Germany.

GEOSOL is the initiator and project developer while Shell Solar is the prime construction contractor.

The solar power station will be built on a former lignite mine ash deposit near Espenhain. The free-standing array will comprise some 33,500 solar modules with a total output of 5 megawatts.

The solar power station is due on stream in July 2004. The power will be fed directly into the grid and will be sufficient to meet the electricity demand of about 1,800 households. The solar power station will save some 3,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Shell Solar has considerable experience as a prime contractor in the construction of solar power stations, and has extensive engineering expertise. In 1997 Shell Solar completed an installation at the Munich Trade Center that is still the world's largest roof mounted photovoltaic installation.

Shell Solar will use high-performance photovoltaic modules of the new Shell SQ series in large-scale industrial production for the first time in the Espenhain project. These solar modules are capable of handling high-voltage and deliver the highest energy yields. Siemens AG is supplying the inverters, the transformers and the medium-voltage connection equipment.

Shell Solar markets its products in more than 75 countries and has a workforce of 1,300. To date, it has supplied solar cells and modules with a total peak capacity in excess of 350 megawatts.

This corresponds to about one-fifth of the entire capacity installed worldwide. Shell Solar is part of Shell Renewables, a core business of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies.