The project, which is located in the Puglia region of southern Italy, is part of the series of solar projects, valued in excess of $100 million, that are being developed as a result of Premier Power’s acquisition of Arco Energy in July 2009. Arco Energy is an Italian solar project developer, EPC and distributor.
The company expects the fixed ground mount solar installation to be completed by January 2010. The project will utilize crystalline modules provided by Canadian Solar and inverters from PowerOne. The installation will be installed using environmentally friendly racking, ensuring minimal disruption to the land and surrounding environment.
Gestore dei Servizi Elettrici (GSE), the state-run Italian power management agency, expects total installed PV power in Italy will reach 900MW by the end of 2009, representing 100% growth compared to 2008 and a potential market size of over EUR4 billion. GSE, which expects the Italian market to grow to 1500MW in 2010, said that the attractive feed-in tariff in Italy is setting the stage for the country to become the second largest PV market in the world, behind Germany.
Miguel de Anquin, chief operating officer of Premier Power, said: “Our local expertise, through the acquisition of Arco Energy, and our experience and best practices in both utility scale and rooftop installations, establish a platform that opens up both immediate opportunities in the development and construction of large scale projects in the Italian market and the longer term opportunity of Italian rooftop and BIPV activities, both of which are rapidly expanding in the region.”
Premier Power is expected to start additional projects in both Europe and the US.
