Q-Cells North America has recently completed a total of 108MW PV projects in North America. It built a 69MW PV project in Ontario, Canada and several PV projects in California, US, which have a total capacity of 39MW.
The 69MW PV plant was completed at the end of May in partnership with private investment firm Starwood Energy Group Global. The first phase of the project commenced in October 2010 with SSM1, a 24MW plant, followed by SSM2, a 34MW plant. Now complete, the company claims that it is one of the largest silicon crystalline PV projects in North America.
The Californian projects were built in partnership with the utility firm PG&E under the utility-owned generation (UOG) programme.
According to Boris Schubert, CEO of Q-Cells North America, “In the last two years, Q-Cells North America has designed and installed more than 100 MWp of PV power plants in the North American market. Our innovative financing capabilities and our understanding of the regulatory issues involved, as well as our established track record and power plant experience make Q-Cells North America the partner of choice for customers who want reliable and predictable energy solutions.”
Q-Cells North America is part of the larger Q-Cells SE which has been struggling of late. With a debt which is said to be in the “low hundreds of millions of Euro”, Q-Cells SE filed for insolvency on April 3, 2012,. However, at the end of August, South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group struck a deal to acquire the flagging business including its debt. The deal has been approved by Q-Cells’ creditors.
