Goldbeck Solar has confirmed the completion of a 49.6MW solar farm in the UK as the company looks to grow its business O&M business in the market.
The site was connected on 30 March, a day before the final deadline for the 1.3 ROC subsidy scheme, following a build period of under six months.
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The time constraints placed on the project meant plans were developed and changed during construction to ensure completion of the project in time, including a switch to Schneider inverters after SMA was unable to meet Goldbeck’s requirements.
Speaking to Solar Power Portal earlier today about the project, Matthew Jones, O&M UK manager at Goldbeck Group, explained: “We use SMA across most of our sites but they couldn't meet our lead time so we had to change to Schneider which caused some design changes. They use a concrete station whereas SMA use normal container stations.”
The site also uses a 132kV substation – one of a small number in the UK – to accommodate its size, which is the largest Goldbeck have in the UK, overtaking a 37MW solar farm in Bournemouth. Jones added that the site is likely to be one of the biggest the company has developed worldwide.
He also revealed that Goldbeck will now seek to grow its O&M activity in the UK to compensate for the decline in build rates resulting from changes to government subsidy.
“Goldbeck are looking to develop more sites as much as possible but also develop more of the O&M business because we have this range of sites, from the smallest being a rooftop which is 515kW up to this 50MW, so we are looking to develop our O&M business as well – as everybody probably is because of the decline of the build,” Jones said.
He added: “They (Goldbeck) are very positive to the UK market. Goldbeck are a very cautious company, they don't go into other markets very quickly. They've obviously scanned the UK market and think it’s a good potential market to continue developing with O&M as well.”
Goldbeck made it into the list of top 20 UK EPCs recently compiled by Solar Media's in-house analysis group Solar Intelligence. Company chief Joachim Goldbeck is president of German solar trade association BSW Solar and a commentator on market and policy issues.
