INTERVIEW – Italy’s Espe Sunparc Eyes Solar Park Projects in Bulgaria, Setting Up Two Units in Romania

Espe Sunparc Srl, an Italian company specialising in the design, installation and management of solar farms, is in talks to carry out solar park projects in Bulgaria with a combined capacity of 5.0 to 10 megawatts, the company's sales managing director said.

The company has also secured permits for solar parks in Romania where it is incorporating two new units, Andrea Griggio told SeeNews in an emailed interview.

“We have only recently started to approach the Bulgarian market. At the moment our staff there consists of four people. And there's also a team of Italian coordinators following the Bulgarian projects,” Griggio said.

“We believe Bulgaria is a key emerging market as far as photovoltaic [PV] energy is concerned. There's a lot of potential. The national feed-in tariff and, more generally, the legal framework are clearly defined.”

Espe Sunparc was recently born as a horizontally-integrated undertaking between Espe srl and Silfab Spa, founded by Franco Traverso, an Italian PV pioneer from the early 1980s, and international parners PanAsia Solar Ltd. and Sino-American Silicon Products Inc.

Another Southeast European market on Espe Sunparc’s radar is Romania.

Espe srl, Espe Sunparc's co-founder, has already been present in Romania’s hydro power sector for a decade. Espe Group owns five hydro power plants there and recently invested 22 million euro ($30.5 million) in a hydro power project in Sapanta, in northern Romania.

“That is why the company already has a solid base in Romania and enjoys solid reputation there too,” Griggio said.

The two new units in Romania - Espe Sunparc Renewables and Espe Sunparc Development, are based in Timisoara.

Espe Sunparc Renewables will be in charge of facility operation while Espe Sunparc Development will deal with permitting procedures.

“We have already got permits for 9.0 MW of ground-mounted PV systems. Our 2012 development plans include 80 MW of PV power plants as engineering, procurement, construction and management contractors.”

($=0.7204 euro)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!