Singapore/Seoul, November 30, 2006: With the completion of two solar power plants in South Korea, SunTechnics is further extending its market leadership on the peninsula. In the Incheon region and in Mu-An, the one-stop provider of renewable energy systems, has successfully commissioned two photovoltaic plants with a peak output of one megawatt each which are supplying around 600 households with environmentally friendly solar power.
The one-megawatt solar power plant has already been supplying power for the state-owned electricity supplier Korea South-East Company (KOSEP) to the Incheon region, to the southwest of Seoul, since September. SunTechnics installed the plant in collaboration with partner Korea Cottrell, which has specialized in the design, engineering and construction of environmental systems for the industry in Asia. In addition to this, in early November, the major solar project in Mu-An in southern Korea with a total peak output of one megawatt was successfully connected to the grid. With an installation phase of just six weeks, SunTechnics set new standards in the completion of turn-key photovoltaic plants in the megawatt power range. The construction of another solar power plant with a total peak performance of 1.2 megawatts southwest of Seoul will already start by the end of this year with partner Korea Cottrell. To help coordinate the lucrative business activities even better, SunTechnics opened its own branch office in Seoul, with a second branch office in SunCheon on the East Asian peninsula being planned for early 2007. Laying claim to a total market share of about 20 percent, SunTechnics is already the leading provider of turn-key regenerative energy systems in South Korea.
“The Korean market offers vast potential for growth, particularly for large solar installations and tailor-made solar façades for customized building surfaces, which feed electricity into the public grid,” explained Jihun Kim, Country Manager SunTechnics Korea. “Our engineering know-how from having implemented in excess of several thousand solar projects worldwide and our broad portfolio of turn-key complete solutions have helped us achieve success in Korea.” South Korea ranks as one of the world’s most attractive growth markets for solar energy. To relieve the high dependence on oil imports of the tiger economy, which is poor in mineral resources, the South-Korean government has launched a market incentive scheme to develop renewable energies. In a similar way as in Germany, the construction of solar energy systems is subsidized with low-interest loans and each kilowatt hour of solar energy fed into the public grid is rewarded with the equivalent of 58 cent, which is guaranteed for 15 years. In addition, subsidies covering investment costs have been agreed. |