A year ago, during the dark month of December, Nya Solevi, the largest solar farm in Sweden at the time, went online. Over the past year, the farm has produced 5.1 GWh of renewable solar electricity, enough to enable an electric car to circumnavigate the globe about 650 times.
“Since this is our first solar farm, following its development has been especially interesting. On the whole, everything has gone to plan, and we’ve almost reached our target output. As with all new installations, we’ve had a few minor teething problems that, for example, forced us to shut down the farm in September to replace a few components. But since then, everything has been running like clockwork,” says Rebecca Palmgren, product developer at Göteborg Energi.
What’s more, there’s been great interest in Nya Solevi. Throughout the year, some 300 people have made study visits to the farm, and about 850 of the solar panels have been subscribed to by private individuals.
“The lessons we’ve learned from the first year of running Nya Solevi will be of great help now when we’re expanding the project and building a new solar farm in Utby,” says Rebecca.
Johan Lindahl, the Swedish representative for Task 1 of the international IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS), who has followed developments in the photovoltaic industry for many years, notes that when it comes to solar farms, much has happened in a short space of time.
“We’re currently playing catch-up when it comes to establishing solar farms. And this all started shortly after Nya Solevi was completed. Although Nya Solevi wasn’t the first solar farm in Sweden, I think that Göteborg Energi’s decision to focus on building a total of 10 MW, which was communicated in connection with Nya Solevi, was an important reminder that solar farms are not only fun, one-off projects, but also an attractive strategy for energy companies looking to expand and diversify their electricity production capacity,” he says.
For more information, please contact:
Cecilia Erdalen, Press Officer, Göteborg Energi, 070-466 04 28, cecilia.erdalen@goteborgenergi.se
Nya Solevi and Göteborg Energi’s investment in solar farms in numbers
• In 2018, Göteborg Energi’s management and board of directors made a strategic decision to build solar farms totaling 10 MW by 2020.
• The first farm, rated 5.5 MW, is Nya Solevi in Säve, which was commissioned a year ago, and this spring will see construction begin on a farm of the same size in Utby.
• During its first year of operation, Nya Solevi has produced 5.1 GWh, which is about seven percent less than expected. The reason for this was a number of technical teething problems.
• Nya Solevi is open to subscription by private individuals, and 850 solar panels have been subscribed to so far.
• Some 300 people have made study visits to the farm since its inauguration.
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