Inside Cestas

From the Editor
300 MW Cestas project
Photo: Tom Baerwald/Solarpraxis
Jonathan Gifford conducting an interview at the 16 th Forum Solarpraxis in
Berlin, December 2015.
Record project, in record time
Project review: As 2015 draws to a close, a giant awakens. The 300 MW Cestas PV
project has set records for a European solar project and employed a unique consortium
approach to its design and construction. Germany’s Krinner played a crucial role in
the supply of the ground screws and mounting structures along with providing vital
expertise in terms of optimizing installation.
Capturing imagination
Big ambition requires big thinking. There is nothing quite like
seeing a field of glittering PV modules stretched across a vast
expanse of land to capture your imagination – and that of the
general public and press alike. And while one of solar’s virtues
is its ability to be distributed throughout electricity grids
and even in places the grid can’t reach, a big solar plant sends a
powerful message about our technology and energy solutions.
With global leaders having met in Paris for the COP21 negotiations
and international diplomats delivering an historic agreement,
to limit the effects of global warming to below 2°C, big
thinking is required to deliver on that promise. Because of this
very reason, iconic PV projects such as Europe’s largest PV
power plant, the 300 MW Cestas array, play an important role
not only in delivering large volumes of carbon-free electricity,
but also in providing a very public example of what the PV
industry can achieve.
To realize the project a range of innovative technologies and
approaches had to be deployed. Cestas itself was inaugurated on
December 1, only days before government leaders and a plethora
of heads of state crowded the COP21 stage in Paris for a
photo opportunity of epic proportions. These innovations paid
off, were delivered by the international team, and the project
was delivered on time and will generate electricity at a competitive
price.
The innovations themselves also spoke volumes about the
nature of the PV industry. International companies, each with
locally-honed expertise and experiences, delivered incremental
improvements to the components they deliver and the way
they execute projects, which when combined make a big difference.
The cliche of a long journey beginning with one step in
this case rings true.
It is this very approach and effect that pv magazine is proud to
highlight in this special publication. We hope it will spread the
word about solar’s growing strength, and the role special companies
can play in this journey.
It has been an eight month journey not only for the firms executing
on the vast Cestas array, but also for the pv magazine
editorial team who spoke to all of the leading participants in
the project and collected one of the most comprehensive overviews
of a solar project in our growing industry’s history. While
the companies involved expressed unwavering confidence that
things would go to plan, with millions of components and a
combined team numbering into the hundreds having to deliver
at every step along the way, it was not always certain that everything
would progress as planned. However, it did and is a credit
to the companies and individuals involved.
I hope you enjoy learning about Cestas and the companies that
made it happen and bear in mind that bold and ambitious projects
can make an impact and be realized by solar, today and in
the future. To build the carbon free society solutions at scale
will be required, and Cestas shows us all how it can be done.
Jonathan Gifford
Editor in Chief
Photo: Krinner
Krinner President Klaus Krinner at the Cestas array
at its opening on December 1, 2015.
Accuracy counts, and pays dividends.
This was a key principle behind the
approach employed by the Krinner team
in the realization of the 300 MW Cestas
project, outside of the French city of
Bordeaux.
To achieve the precision required to
deliver the project on time and on budget,
Krinner employed a suite of innovative
technologies and methods, from the
ground up. Krinner used aerial drones
to collect surface data from the site. Soil
data were collected, allowing a plan to
be developed to prepare the surface, and
crucially a drainage system, to deliver a
mud-free working environment during
installation.
Krinner then turned to the design.
Using the data collected on-site, engineers
from the German family-owned
company designed the ground-mounted
array. The Krinner Cloud remote control
and monitoring system then communicated
with positioning robots on-site
to mark out the design. Ground screw
installation robots then carried out the
installation with a high level of precision
– using GPS positioning. The support
frames were then secured in place and the
Krinner Flex V racking system installed,
allowing for fast module installation.
“The advantages of this process are in
the enormous installation speed of up to
four megawatts peak per day and team,”
explains Krinner CEO Michael Tritschel.
“This way the Project could be realized
in only eight months of construction and
produce power a lot sooner than a solar
park installed using the usual methods.”
Tritschel adds that the consortium
itself, which brought together Eiffage
(Clemessy) as overseeing EPC with
Schneider Electric and Krinner, functioned
“very well” and provides an example
for how complementary companies
can come together to deliver large projects
efficiently.
“This is certainly one viable way for
executing big projects,” says Tritschel.
“Could this consortium realize other
large scale projects? I believe yes, because
of the individual expertise and the mix
it made.”
Looking forward, while Krinner
remains committed to the large-scale
PV space, with Tritschel describing it as
vital if CO2 emissions are to be reduced
on the global stage, it acknowledges that
the broader trend is towards smaller
and more distributed PV projects in the
future.
“As in many segments, big is beautiful,”
says Tritschel. “We are currently involved
in larger projects – not in Europe but in
Chile.” The Krinner CEO also acknowledges
that there is a strong trend within
the large-scale PV project segment
towards the deployment of tracking technology,
however that is largely limited to
sunnier climes. Krinner has developed
a single-axis horizontal tracker to meet
this demand.
In many ways Cestas has proven to be
an innovation driver and a lighthouse
project for the companies involved and
for the PV industry more widely. It is
an example of the principles behind the
transformative power of PV. Having supplied
and installed over 2.4 GW of solar
projects globally, for Krinner the Cestas
is a significant landmark in that it is the
largest project in its history.
Cestas project at a glance
••
Maximum power output: 300 MWp
••
Sufficient electricity to power 110,000 households
••
Displaces 230,000 tons of CO2 annually
••
Comprises 25 special purpose vehicles (SPVs)
••
Approximately 1 million modules
••
300 hectares (equivalent of 600 football fields)
••
200 transformer units
••
Covers 2.6 million m 2
••
Ground mounting and module installation
achieved in 8 months
••
200,000 ground screws installed
••
326 km of support frames
••
Stages of installation
••
Soil condition assessment
••
3D terrain map
••
Data inspection and documentation at Krinner
HQ
••
Krinner Cloud screw positioning
••
4 MWp of module installation per crew per day
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