CENTROTEC Sustainable AG / Strategic Company Decision
28.06.2010 07:59
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- Corporate News -
CENTROTEC subsidiary Ubbink building first solar plant in East Africa
Brilon, June 28, 2010. Ubbink B.V., the Dutch subsidiary of the
energy-saving group CENTROTEC Sustainable AG, is currently building East
Africa's first solar module plant in Kenya with an initial production
capacity of 30.000 modules per year. For this venture, the company is
teaming up with Chloride Exide, which is already an established supplier of
solar systems in Africa. The first photovoltaic modules, which are
particularly suitable for smaller-scale solar applications, are due to be
manufactured by as early as October 2010.
The solar plant that is being built, by the name of Ubbink East Africa
Ltd., is located in Naivasha close to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, and will
operate according to European technological and quality standards. To
assure a smooth production start, some Kenyan personnel will first be given
training in the Netherlands on the pre-installed production machinery. The
internationally experienced manager Haijo Kuper has been recruited as
Managing Director of the new facility, on the strength of his extensive
experience of similar projects in Zimbabwe, Bahrain and Oman gained while
working for Unilever.
Ubbink East Africa will perform a pioneering role in developing the African
photovoltaic market. The solar modules to be built there, initially in the
3.6 Wp to 80 Wp performance range, are manufactured based on reworked
broken high quality solar cells. The modules are suitable for use in
private homes, village plants and solar power plants serving schools,
hospitals, water supply infrastructure and telecommunications systems. Such
smaller integrated systems assuring an independent energy supply, known as
solar home systems, have huge potential in Africa.
Many areas of the African continent, which has attracted the glare of
worldwide publicity thanks to the World Cup, still remain cut off from a
fully functioning electricity grid. Almost 98 % of the rural population
does not have access to a grid power supply and is therefore severely
hampered in its efforts to develop economically. The only readily available
energy sources are high-pollution kerosene lamps and costly diesel
generators that are maintenance-heavy and moreover exposed to the risk of
escalating fossil fuel prices. Gert-Jan Huisman, CEO of CENTROTEC
Sustainable AG, elaborated: 'As one of the sunniest continents on our
planet, Africa gives solar applications like LED-lighting, mobile phone
charging, water pumps, street lighting etc. very short payback-times, in
particular in off-grid situations. We aim to be among the first to
capitalise on its potential by launching solar modules 'European
Engineering: Made in Africa'. The response to our initiative has already
been huge. We look forward to implementing our plans swiftly and
successfully.'
Being a lighthouse project for renewable energy systems in Africa, Ubbink
achieved a 50 % funding of the investment by the Dutch government fund for
sustainable energy in underdeveloped countries. In a later project stage it
is intended to enlarge the product offering towards other renewable energy
solutions, e.g. solar thermal systems, from CENTROTEC's product portfolio.
CENTROTEC Sustainable AG
CENTROTEC Sustainable AG and its subsidiaries enjoy a presence in over 50
different countries. The principal group companies are Wolf, Brink Climate
Systems and Ned Air in the Climate Systems segment, which have specialised
in heating, climate control and ventilation technology e.g. in the form of
solar thermal systems, CHP units and residential ventilation systems with
heat recovery, as well as Ubbink and Centrotherm, which have focused on gas
flue systems and solar system components in the Gas Flue Systems segment.
CENTROTEC is consequently Europe's only listed full-service provider of
solar thermal systems and energy-saving solutions for buildings.
Ubbink Group
The Ubbink Group with its corporate headquarter in The Netherlands provides
innovative building solutions and technologies to increase the energy
efficiency of buildings and improve their indoor climate. Besides gas flue
systems, Ubbink manufactures, configures and sells products for air- and
water-tightness, room ventilation, solar components, systems and services
in Europe and around the world.
CENTROTEC Sustainable AG, Am Patbergschen Dorn 9, D-59929 Brilon, Germany
ISIN: DE0005407506, WKN: 540750, home stock exchange: Frankfurt am Main
Indices: SDAX, Prime All Share, Prime Industrial
For further information, contact:
CENTROTEC Sustainable AG, Dr Frank Rose, Tel: +49 (0)2961 96631-104 or
MetaCom Corporate Communications GmbH, Georg Biekehör, Tel: +49 (0) 6181
982 80-30
28.06.2010 07:59 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release distributed by DGAP. Medienarchiv at |[![CDATA[|[a href="http://www.dgap-medientreff.de"|]www.dgap-medientreff.de|[/a|]]]|] and |[![CDATA[|[a href="http://www.dgap.de"|]www.dgap.de|[/a|]]]|]
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Language: English
Company: CENTROTEC Sustainable AG
Am Patbergschen Dorn 9
59929 Brilon
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)2961 96631-0
Fax: +49 (0)2961 96631-100
E-mail: ir@centrotec.de
Internet: www.centrotec.de
ISIN: DE0005407506
WKN: 540750
Indices: SDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, München, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Hamburg
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-News: CENTROTEC Sustainable AG: CENTROTEC subsidiary Ubbink building first solar plant in East Africa
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