Commercial properties supply solar power

The Hamburg-based property developer GARBE and the photovoltaic specialist SENS of Würzburg conclude a framework agreement for 11 megawatts capacity

Hamburg/Würzburg/Essen. The market for rooftop photovoltaic systems for commercial and industrial properties has been booming, and not just since the obligation to equip commercially used new buildings with a photovoltaic system came into force at the beginning of the year. Consequently, STEAG Solar Energy Solutions GmbH (SENS) of Würzburg and the Hamburg-based investment company GARBE Industrial Real Estate GmbH, which specializes in commercial real estate, have now agreed a framework contract for the development of PV systems on commercial and industrial properties. In total, solar systems with a total capacity of 11 megawatts (MWp) will be constructed on existing buildings and structures yet to be built.

The real estate portfolio of partner GARBE is spread across locations all over Germany. It includes both existing properties and new buildings. Immediately after conclusion of the contract, the first part of the project is already in the starting blocks: In Harsum, Lower Saxony, SENS is to install 4,070 solar modules on an existing roof area in the next few months. ”Here alone, 1.6 megawatts of new solar power will be connected to the grid,” says Fabian Herr, COO at SENS, explaining the dimension of this first sub-project.

This will be followed by construction work in Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg) with 3.3 MWp and Coswig (Saxony-Anhalt) with 2.4 MWp. The remaining works will also start promptly this year, so that SENS will have completed the entire project for GARBE by the beginning of 2023.

Emission reduction of more than 4,000 metric tons per year
The total output of the PV roof systems which SENS is implementing together with the real estate specialist GARBE will ensure an annual reduction of CO₂ emissions of around 4,400 metric tons in the future. In total, GARBE can offer a surface potential of approximately six million square meters to available for installation of PV systems. “There is still considerable potential for expansion here in the future,” says Fabian Herr, counting on a continuation of the successful cooperation.

Space for strategic partnership
Project partner GARBE is also receptive for further cooperation: “We always choose and develop our commercial properties with an awareness of our commitment to sustainability. In SENS, we have found a partner who takes this commitment just as seriously as we do,” says Mathias Wasko, Managing Director of GARBE Renewable Energy (GREEN GmbH), explaining the connection between the two companies: “With SENS as a partner for roof-based photovoltaic systems, we can make our existing properties sustainable even faster and make our contribution to the expansion of renewable energies within Germany.”

SENS explicitly shares this sustainable perspective: “We are not only united by the goal of sustainability, but also by the understanding of a good partnership: in personal terms, with the same ambitions and for the long term,” as Fabian Herr summarizes. “That’s why we are all the more pleased to now initially be able to realize the scope of this project for GARBE.”