On a 13.3-hectare (133,200 m²) compound owned by OMV, a photovoltaic plant with a PV capacity of 11.4 MWp will be built in Schönkirchen in the first phase of construction. The east-west facing solar park will use 34,600 PV modules to produce around 10.96 GWh of solar power, corresponding to the annual electricity consumption of some 3,400 households and saving around 8,000 metric tons of CO2. Start-up is planned for the end of November 2020. The final phase of construction will see another 10,400 PV modules added to the plant. This will increase the total capacity to 14.85 MWp, generating around 14.25 GWh. This is enough to meet the annual power demand of 4,400 households and will save an additional 2,400 metric tons of CO2 per year. Elisabeth Köstinger, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Regions & Tourism: “The expansion of photovoltaics in Austria is central to achieving the Austrian renewable electricity targets. I am particularly pleased that OMV and VERBUND are jointly building Austria's largest PV plant and thus supplying also their mining operations in the region with green electricity.” Stephan Pernkopf, Deputy of the Federal Governor of Lower Austria: “Lower Austria is successfully supporting the energy transition for many years already. In doing so, we protect the climate and create jobs in the regions. The construction of the largest PV plant in Austria by OMV and VERBUND is a significant milestone in this respect.” “Together with VERBUND, today we are starting construction on Austria’s largest area photovoltaic plant. This will not only contribute to meeting climate targets but will also provide important regional economic impulse in the Weinviertel. Investments like these reflect our resolute commitment to reducing our carbon intensity”, said Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV.  “By 2030, 100% of electricity produced in Austria should come from renewable sources”, said Wolfgang Anzengruber, VERBUND Chairman. “With 131 hydropower plants, we are Austria’s largest energy producer and we intend to grow significantly – also in the field of new renewables. By realizing the largest solar plant in Austria, we are implementing a sustainable economic and environmental agenda and jointly investing in the future of energy”. Photo: Baubeginn / Start of constructionJPGDownload AllF.l.t.r.: Wolfgang Anzengruber (Chairman of the Management Board of VERBUND) Elisabeth Köstinger (Federal Minister for Agriculture Rainer Seele (Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV) Stephan Pernkopf (Deputy of the Federal Governor of Lower Austria)Picture credit: OMV Aktiengesellschaft – editorial use free of charge innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 20,000 employees in 2019 OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies OMV has a strong base in Central and Eastern Europe as well as a balanced international portfolio Russia and Asia-Pacific as further core regions Daily average production was 487,000 boe/d in 2019 OMV operates three refineries in Europe and owns a 15% share in ADNOC Refining and Trading JV with a total annual processing capacity of 24.9 mn tons one of the world’s leading producers of polyolefins The Company operates about 2,100 filling stations in ten European countries OMV runs gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH operates a gas pipeline network in Austria gas sales volumes amounted to around 137 TWh Sustainability is an integral part of OMV’s corporate strategy OMV supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy and has set measurable targets for reducing carbon intensity and introducing new energy and petrochemical solutions Sylvia ShinSVP Corporate CommunicationsTel: +43 (1) 40440-0media.relations@omv.com Florian GregerSVP Investor Relations & SustainabilityTel.: +43 (1) 40440-21600investor.relations@omv.com OMV GroupOMV PetromBorealis Group Austria’s largest open-air photovoltaic plant recently went into operation in Schönkirchen-Reyersdorf It is designed to supply clean solar power for forty years This requires exceptionally robust components including those used in the electrical connection systems Austria has set itself ambitious climate targets the photovoltaics sector is to be massively expanded To meet the requirements with typical small-scale installations for single family homes with an output of five kilowatts around 750 systems would have to be constructed – every day until 2030 there’s no need to worry about running out of roof space at some stage because in Austria the trend is towards large installations with an output of several megawatts The country’s largest outdoor photovoltaic system was opened in November 2020 in Schönkirchen-Reyersdorf The 34,600 modules cover an area of 13.3 hectares a total of almost 11 gigawatt hours of electrical energy per year corresponding to the consumption of 3,400 households This saves 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year The next stage of the project will be a further 10,400 modules providing 3.5 megawatts and supplying 1,000 more households with green energy The costs are split equally between the energy companies OMV and VERBUND with KPV Solar having overall responsibility for constructing the installation The market for photovoltaics in Austria is growing by 50 percent each year The global market leader for integrated cable and connection technology solutions is one of the leading suppliers for photovoltaics in Austria and is seeing strong growth in sales “Brands such as ÖLFLEX® are very well known here and are in high demand” sales engineer and the person responsible for photovoltaics at LAPP Austria A major advantage for LAPP is its superior logistics. For the project in Schönkirchen-Reyersdorf, KPV Solar created a quantity structure as part of their planning as a basis for its orders from LAPP. LAPP ensures that the specified goods are in stock at LAPP Austria in Linz and the customer can then call them off as required KPV Solar always gives a week’s notice of the day on which they need the goods and LAPP delivers them to the site on that exact day while the cables are flame retardant and halogen-free meaning that they can also be used for the North American market The technicians only have to plug in and secure the cables There is no need to laboriously strip each individual cable and attach the connector in the rain and wind This saves time and eliminates defects that cannot be completely ruled out with manual assembly on the construction site the largest photovoltaic park in Austria is an important reference project for example as a member of the Photovoltaic-Austria interest group and Andreas Felber also regularly provides training for electrical planners and end customers and also teaches at the technical college in Graz “I’m always close to our customers and find out first hand what they need.” Download brochure Download flyer Video: © LAPP: How To – EPIC® SOLAR 4PLUS Connector Assembly The Lapp Group is one of the world’s leading providers of intelligent connection solutions These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies but some parts of the site will not then work These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site and will not be able to monitor its performance integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Vienna Austria’s leading electricity company and one of the largest hydropower producers in Europe have started up the largest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant in Austria and are embarking on a test period of several weeks Deputy to and representing the Governor of Lower Austria Johanna Mikl-Leitner; Rainer Seele CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV; Johann Pleininger Executive Board member for Upstream and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV; Wolfgang Anzengruber Chairman of the Management Board of VERBUND; and Michael Strugl at the OMV site in Schönkirchen-Reyersdorf Just five months later and the plant is operational Despite supply restrictions caused by the pandemic construction work has progressed on schedule another 10,400 PV modules will be added to the plant This will increase the total capacity to 14.85 MWp This is enough to meet the annual power demand of 4,400 households in total and will save an additional 2,400 metric tons of CO2 per year “It’s been an honour to observe this project right from the ground-breaking ceremony and I’m delighted that the plant is up and running after just a few months of construction The fact that projects like this are being built in the Austria mining sector – projects that combine competitiveness and climate neutrality – is both encouraging and motivating The energy-intensive sectors in particular require innovative climate-friendly solutions and this plant is an important step here,” said the Federal Minister responsible for mining today we have started up the largest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant in Austria The dedication shown by the entire project team has meant we could keep to the planned schedule despite challenging circumstances we can meet part of our energy demand with sustainable solar power we are contributing to climate targets and consistently delivering on our commitment to reduce our carbon intensity,” Rainer Seele Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV “We’ve delivered our joint vision for the future of energy!” said Wolfgang Anzengruber “In a construction period of just five months Austria’s largest photovoltaic plant has been successfully realized by OMV and VERBUND and starts operating today Cross-sector partnerships like this allow us to provide both economic stimulus and sustainable investments – and the current crisis should teach us that we also need to tackle the climate crisis by standing together” “With the largest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant in Austria two domestic giants – OMV and VERBUND – are sending a clear signal for a sustainable energy future and themselves making a key contribution to reducing emissions Our goal is for 100 percent of electricity in Austria to come from renewable technologies by 2030 Meeting this goal will only be possible in cooperation with Austrian companies,” Magnus Brunner State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action which looks at producing hydrogen for use in road vehicles and refinery processes On a 13.3-hectare (133,200 m²) compound owned by OMV Austria’s largest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant with a PV capacity of 11.4 MWp has been built in Schönkirchen The first phase of construction of the east-west facing solar park sees 34,600 PV modules produce around 10.96 GWh of solar power corresponding to the annual electricity consumption of some 3,400 households and saving around 8,000 metric tons of CO2 “It’s been an honor to observe this project right from the groundbreaking ceremony and I’m delighted that the plant is up and running after just a few months of construction climate-friendly solutions and this plant is an important step here” said the Federal Minister responsible for mining we are contributing to climate targets and consistently delivering on our commitment to reduce our carbon intensity” “We’ve delivered our joint vision for the future of energy!” “Lower Austria has been successfully supporting the energy transition for many years already we protect the climate and create jobs in the region The new PV plant built by OMV and VERBUND is a significant milestone in this respect Projects like these show how willing Austrian companies are to invest in Lower Austria’s sustainable energy future” Meeting this goal will only be possible in cooperation with Austrian companies” Realization of this project also strengthens the strategic cooperation between OMV and VERBUND This began in 2017 when OMV took a 40% stake in the e-mobility provider SMATRICS in which VERBUND holds 40% and Siemens 20% A joint assessment was undertaken of the refining sites in Austria and Germany to increase the quality OMV and VERBUND are currently working together on a project called UpHy Five trends in particular are set to shape the market over the next few years The call from society is becoming louder: Politics needs to do more to protect the climate Photovoltaics – the conversion of sunlight into electrical energy – is undoubtedly an important component of the energy revolution Photovoltaics already contribute a significant proportion of the energy mix PV modules with a nominal output of 54 GW had been installed in Germany by the end of 2020 they generated 50.6 TWh – 9.6% of Germany’s gross power consumption PV power can at times cover two-thirds of momentary power consumption Thanks to the rapidly falling module prices new megawatt installations generate electricity for 3 – 5.5 cents/kWh this is slightly higher at 6 – 11 cents/kWh but overall they are already more cost-effective than fossil power plants This development is likely to continue in the long term even though module prices have risen recently due to supply bottlenecks as a result of the corona crisis It consists of 34,600 modules covering an area of 13.3 hectares which is roughly the size of 18 football pitches They produce a combined output of 11.5 megawatts and generate almost 11 gigawatt hours of electrical energy per year which equates to the consumption of 3,400 households But that’s peanuts compared to the world’s largest installations The Saemangeum project in South Korea has built three PV parks each with a peak output of 99 MW The records are falling thick and fast almost every month Bhadla Solar Park in India is currently the number one with 2245 MW and an area of 57 square kilometres which equates to around 8000 football pitches The flood in western Germany in mid-July may just have been a taster: Climate experts anticipate an accumulation of extreme weather events in the future This has an impact on the construction and maintenance of photovoltaic installations as well as the electrical connection systems it should be rebuilt as quickly as possible This requires logistics capable of building up new generation capacities within days The same goes for natural disasters such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions suppliers need to have all common components for constructing a PV installation available from stock in many regions of the world so they can be quickly replaced on site in the event of an emergency Many supply chains have collapsed during the corona pandemic there are currently bottlenecks in the PV industry when it comes to delivering modules but also accessories such as module frames or electronic components for the inverters Companies with resilient supply chains have an advantage here which can also be helpful in dealing with customs formalities This does not mean the efficiency of the PV modules themselves which has been increasing for decades and is always hitting new records – and will in the future CO2 emissions have been calculated at 35 to 57 grams per kilowatt hour which is primarily generated in production This value is far below that of fossil energy generators and is dropping steadily not least because solar power makes the energy mix cleaner and thus reduces emissions during production there is also an obligation to take back solar modules at the end of service There is further saving potential during installation Thousands of identical modules are installed allowing fitters to use assembled cables of the correct length that they simply have to plug in This saves time and rules out defects that can never be completely eliminated during manual assembly on the construction site photovoltaics already cover up to two-thirds of momentary power consumption in Germany other renewable generators such as wind energy have to deliver from storage in electric vehicle batteries to mechanical pumped storage systems As this makes the energy grid more decentralised Either on the existing roof or on the meadow – these were previously the options for constructing PV installations house roofs are limited and solar power generation competes with other uses of open spaces Several other options have developed over the past few years: The cables used in photovoltaic installations like these not only need to withstand wind they may be permanently underwater (floating PV) exposed to increased vibrations (PV on rails) or have to disappear as inconspicuously as possible behind a glass facade the company offers assembled cables for faster installation which simply need to be plugged in by the fitters on site The focus of the portfolio on sustainable sectors and the associated project support reinforce LAPP’s claim to offer one-stop-shop solutions and will not be able to monitor its performance.