Hevel launches first solar power plant in Urals, invests 2.7 bln rubles

YEKATERINBURG. Sept 16 (Interfax) - The Hevel Group of Companies has commissioned three solar power plants with total installed capacity of 37.9 MW in the Artinsky District of the Sverdlovsk Region, an Interfax correspondent reported from the launch ceremony of the Chekmash substation, which will supply the power of the new solar power plant.

The solar power plants cost 2.7 billion rubles to construct, and they are the first ones in the Urals Federal District.

"A solar power plant allows us to reduce the carbon footprint of commercial products by 14,000 tonnes of CO2 [emissions into the atmosphere per year]. This is rather important for the industry of the Sverdlovsk Region from the point of view of exports, because the world now makes great demands on the presence of a carbon footprint, [...] and the presence of green generation reduces the carbon footprint, thereby increasing the competitiveness of Russian industry," Anton Usachev, director of Hevel Regional Generation, told journalists.

Sverdlovsk Region Energy Minister Nikolai Smirnov noted that the project's recoupment period could be 12-15 years.

Rosseti Ural has built the 110 kV Chekmash substation near the facility, as well as a power transmission line, in order to supply power to the solar power plant. The project cost about 550 million rubles. The substation is also designed to supply power to the solar power plant, though could also supply electricity to other consumers if necessary.

Hevel is a large energy company in Russia operating in the solar energy sector. Founded in 2009, Hevel Group is the only vertically integrated manufacturer of solar modules in Russia according to information on its website. The group has implemented more than 100 projects with total capacity of more than 1 GW.

PJSC Rosseti Ural is the sole operating company of the Ural Region, distributing electricity in the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, as well as the Perm Territory.