5th July 2021

Soler: Energy from Luxembourg!

Owned equally by SEO and Enovos, Soler has been active in renewable energy since 2001. Mr. Paul Zeimet, Administrateur-Délégué, was kind enough to tell us more about Soler's current and future projects in a recent interview. Did you know that the greatest potential for the Grand Duchy to achieve the European Union's climate objectives lies within wind energy?

Interview with Paul Zeimet (Administrateur-Délégué , Soler S.A.) and Philippe Hennes (Relationship Manager, Spuerkeess)

Mr Zeimet, can you tell us more about the structure and remit of your company?

Founded in 2001, “Société Luxembourgeoise des Energies Renouvelables S.A. (Soler)”, in which SEO (Société électrique de l’Our S.A.) and Enovos Luxembourg S.A. each hold a 50 percent stake, is responsible for project development, planning, construction and operation of facilities that generate power from renewable energy sources.

 

In Luxembourg, most of the renewable energy produced comes from wind power.

In addition to operating run-of-river hydroelectric plants in Esch-Sauer, Rosport and Ettelbrück, Soler S.A. has launched and currently operates 8 wind farms in Luxembourg.

In fact, wind energy is one of the main instruments permitting Luxembourg to meet European climate targets.

Construction of the wind turbine

 

And are these climate targets also a priority for Spuerkeess, Mr Hennes?

Turbine installation

Absolutely! Spuerkeess has pursued a policy of promoting sustainable and renewable forms of energy for many years now – both within and outside our company. In October 2019, Spuerkeess also became the first bank in the financial hub of Luxembourg to sign the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Banking.

By doing this, we are committed to playing our part in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as those of the Paris Climate Agreement.

My colleagues in the Corporate Banking unit and I are extremely proud to have been able to advise and assist Soler S.A. in this area ever since the company was founded and to witness first-hand how it continues to evolve.

And Soler is now writing another chapter in this success story, Mr Zeimet...

Yes, our eighth wind farm went operative at the beginning of 2021 on the "Reibierg", within the municipality of Garnich. Building work started in early 2020 and a first facility of the wind farm already fed green electricity into the local network by the end of 2020.

The project, christened "Wandpark Garnich S.A.", includes the construction of two wind turbines with a total installed output of 6,4 MW. Together, both turbines will generate on average around 16 GWh per year, enough to cover the electricity consumption of 3.595 households or around 14.380 people. This will allow us to save around 10.400 tonnes of CO2 each year.

Soler will give the municipality of Garnich and its residents a financial stake in the company Wandpark Garnich S.A. after one year of operations.

Can you give us any hints about your upcoming goals?

At the moment, we are working on more than 10 further wind farm projects, which are in various stages of development. The location of these wind farms has to be carefully selected. Potential and feasibility studies are presented to local community officials and residents.

Detailed environmental and wind studies are carried out both locally and regionally before the approval procedures, construction and operations are planned out. Spuerkeess is involved in this process from the planning stage to provide clarification about financing options.

For Soler, it is vital that all projects comply with national noise and shadow flicker limits as well as protecting the environment. Soler prides itself on delivering wind farm projects based on partnership. This means staying in regular contact with local community officials and residents in the areas concerned during development, construction and the eventual operations, and enabling residents to acquire participations in the wind farms.

That sounds like a win-win situation for all involved. Gentlemen, thank you very much for this interview.


Sustainability