May 16 2014
Etelä-Savon Energia Oy (”ESE”) and Cencorp Corporation have signed a cooperation agreement with objective to develop together solar energy markets in the region of South Savo. In the first phase a pilot plant will be built in Karikko, Mikkeli.
A pilot solar power plant, built as a pilot project, is an investment that opens the solar energy markets in the region of South Savo. The solar power plant includes 200 solar modules with capacity of max. 49.5 kW. The power plant generates annually about 40.000 kWh which is enough to heat 15 apartments, in average, for a year. The solar power plant of this size is the only one in the region of South Savo.
Cencorp will deliver the solar power plant as a turnkey project. The customer is ESE who is responsible for connecting the power plant to the grid. Based on experience got from this pilot project a model for wider cooperation can be developed.
”An investment in solar energy is part of ESE’s strategy. The investment supports procurement and production of the green energy and is part of our new energy services. Since ESE withdrew from Fennovoima’s nuclear power plant project ESE is focusing more and more on renewable and local forms of energy”, says Erkki Karppanen, Managing Director of Etelä-Savon Energia Oy.
”The pilot solar power plant, to be delivered to ESE, is based on Cencorp’s own Finnish solar module technology. The solar modules will be produced with Cerncorp’s own production technology in Mikkeli. Even though the first phase of the delivery of the pilot solar power plant is not financially significant, it is a start for a long-term cooperation with ESE. The cooperation is aiming to develop solar energy markets in the region of South Savo. Cencorp will be part of developing business models for solar energy sales and delivery in Finland. Further, Cencorp will use the plant for testing its new innovations in practice in Northern European conditions. The project is an important reference delivery for Cencorp for the future both in domestic and international markets” says Iikka Savisalo, Managing Director of Cencorp.
Etelä-Savon Energia Oy is an energy company, 100 percent owned by the City of Mikkeli, who is a forerunner of providing environmentally friendly Ekoteko energy products. In 2013 the company’s net sales was about EUR 53 million and the number of personnel in Finland was ca. 100.