Norwegian group REC has signed an agreement with Daegu City in South Korea to build and own a 2.5MW solar power plant, through its solar arm and its 60%-owned subsidiary HanBit Solar Company. The plant will produce three million kWh of clean energy each year.
<p>The power plant will be installed on top of a water treatment facility in Daegu City and will contain around 11,000 of REC Solar's modules. Total investments will amount to slightly more than E10 million. The group said that its HanBit subsidiary will enter into the necessary contracts for design and construction of the plant over the coming months.<br /><br />REC hopes that the project will qualify for clean development mechanism credits, allowing for the trading of certified emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. HanBit, which is 40%-owned by a local partner, expects to own the power plant for up to 15 years before it is handed over to Daegu City. <br /><br />South Korea has ambitious goals for solar power and an attractive subsidy regime for the photovoltaic industry, and offers a promising new market for our REC Solar division, said Erik Thorsen, president and CEO.<br /><br />We are currently exploring various ways of building robust and profitable market channels that can support our increasing downstream activities, and this project will be an important step in that direction. It will also allow us to integrate the entire value chain from polysilicon production all the way to electricity generation, added Mr Thorsen.</p>