SPI Solar announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with WIRCON GmbH, a Germany-based diversified renewable energy company, to develop solar PV projects in the United Kingdom.

Within the framework of the agreement, SPI and WIRCON will establish a new joint venture company to develop solar energy projects in the UK, with an initial proposed target of approximately 55 MW. Selected projects will be procured and developed with the intent for the joint venture company to own and operate certain assets and sell others to investors.

“WIRCON has amassed a wealth of solar project development experience in Europe over the years, and this agreement provides a foundation for SPI to grow our business in the critically important UK market,” said Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman of SPI. “The UK will be one of our key geographic focus markets in the coming years, and this announcement marks a new milestone for SPI internationally.”

The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) in the UK has set a target that 30% of the country’s electricity must come from renewable sources by 2020. The UK currently is estimated to have between 3.2 – 4 GW of installed solar capacity.

Peter Vest, Managing Director of WIRCON, stated: “This partnership with SPI is a logical result of the combined strengths that each side brings to the table to take advantage of UK solar project opportunities. Our strong commitment to solar project development in Europe will be greatly enhanced by SPI’s experience and resources as a publicly-listed company with a strong, global presence in the US and Asia.”

Mark Hogan, President of Wirsol Energy Ltd., a subsidiary of WIRCON, added, “We are excited to commence this joint effort with SPI on the procurement and development of solar project assets in the UK. We plan to capitalize on selected opportunities with attractive return potential in the UK market, particularly given the DECC’s proposal to close the RO (Renewables Obligation) scheme to new solar PV capacity above 5 MW from 1st April 2015. We will also invest in sourcing and building a substantial and sustainable pipeline looking into 2015 and beyond.”

(Photo Credit: wikipedia)