IZEN International Magazine 2015

izen

renewable energy

International Magazine

city of the future

Sun at el fin del mundo

the new coexistence

looking at the sun

potrait of a boaster

No worries, we’re Belgian

Blue is the new green

Izen loves the uk

“THE SECRET OF CHANGE

is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” (Socrates)

2

Welcome

international

Credits Publisher: Servaas Van Den Noortgate Hoeksken 56, 2275 Lille Coordination: Jelle Henneman Editing and photography: Pieter Callebaut Joke Lammens Jolien Lynen Contact information: IZEN International Hoeksken 56, 2275 Lille info@IZEN.eu - www.IZEN.eu 0032 (0)14 55 83 19 IZEN energy systems Ltd Unit 22 Boston Industrial Estate Power Station Road, Rugeley Staffs, WS15 2HS info@IZEN.co.uk - www.IZEN.co.uk +44 (0) 1785 413105 IZEN Chile Energía Solar SpA. Av. Apoquindo 3885, of. 602 Las Condes CP 755 0177 Santiago - Chile info@IZEN.cl - www.IZEN.cl IZEN Energisystemer Rævevej 12, DK - 7800 SKive info@IZEN.dk - www.IZEN.eu (+45) 40 20 44 22

IZEN was founded in 1987 by a group of ecological-minded people with a firm belief that energy efficiency and renewable energy are the only true answers to our future global energy demand.

Twenty-seven years later, we and our 85 employees, are still firm supporters of this vision. Thanks to strong price decreases of the components of solar systems and the increasing prices of electricity, our belief in grid parity as being the solution for our energy demand became an accomplished fact.

Credit where credit is due, competitive green energy as opposed to our traditional energy sources, was in the beginning solely possible with the support of subsidized mechanisms in several countries such as the UK, Germany, Belgium and Italy. All of which made Europe to be the world’s most ecological continent in ten years’ time.

Europe’s interest in ‘green’ energy has had an important impact on the rest of the world. Due to, at times very challenging, projects in Europe, IZEN has gathered an enormous amount of knowhow. Not only do we build solar rooftops on complex office buildings, we also transform brown fields into clean energy parks. For example in Heusden-Zolder we did a reconversion of an old coal terril into a 4.7 MW solar farm. It is that knowledge and experience that paved the way for ecological projects with solar panels on the most extreme places on earth.

Chile, a country of successful economic growth, with its grid parity and lots of sunshine, really is the place to be for anyone willing to believe in renewable energy. The village Quillagua is set at the base of a polluted canyon in one of the world’s driest deserts. This is the place where IZEN will start constructing an enormous solar park. During the first phase, we will install about 80.000 solar panels, relating up to 23 MWp. From self-engineered solar collectors up to huge solar projects around the globe. But to be frank, this evolution doesn’t strike us as surprising, thanks to well-organised and stable partnerships, favourable political decisions and the right knowhow.

We welcome you to continue on this path together!

Sunny greetings, Servaas Van Den Noortgate Managing Director IZEN International 3

IZEN solar Thermal systems since 1987 - The one from the 80s that's still hot!

It's been 27 years since the first IZEN solar thermal system was installed. It's still producing blissfully hot water today. That saves a lot of energy. Talk about sustainability!

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energy systems

Contents

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8

the boaster

we’re belgian

green is the new green

izen love the UK

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12

crazy about sun

world in 2040

sunbelt of our planet

green future

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giant leap

pv projects

atacama desert solar plant

experienced epc contractor

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Portrait of a boaster

Blue is the new green

For some people the green economy still doesn't go far enough. For Gunter Pauli for example, the most ecologically important, but unknown Belgian. To him, the blue economy is more sustainable than the green one. And more profitable

In Porto Torres, on the Italian island of Sardinia, an old petrochemical plant belonging to the energy giant ENI has been running on thistles for some months now.

On thistles?

Absolutely. Apparently you can make plastics, lubricants, herbicides (ironically enough), animal food and much more from thistles. So when ENI wanted to shut the whole thing down a few years ago, the current owners wonderd it would be possible to convert the installation into a green bio-refinery. The raw material was quickly found: the EU had been paying subsidies to the farmers for years for leaving their fields uncultivated, so there were 70,000 hectares of weeds available. Therefore: thistles. An investment with worth more than â‚Ź 540 million.

And where do you think that brilliant idea came from? Well, from all over, actually. The international think-tank ZERI (Zero Emissions and Research Initiatives) brings together thousands of scientists, which are increasingly becoming reality. But the pivot around which everything revolved was, indeed, one man, a Belgian one actually. Gunter Pauli, 58, has been living in Japan for years, though his constant travels has turned him into the proverbial global citizen. Although he is 6

almost unknown in Belgium, he is highly respected by the international community because of his progressive ideas. But Pauli is not some woolly-thinking young green. He is an entrepreneur who likes companies that make money - but in a sustainable way, and that's what he calls radical. For Pauli, companies making their operations green is not the solution for our environmental problems. It's not far-reaching enough, and it is too expensive to take on the competition who have less-green credentials. Pauli wants to change the whole game: a business model doesn't need a green side, it must be green through and through. A classic company that has its waste recycled is not reaching far enough; he wants them to use their waste to create something. As the countless companies that meanwhile have made use of coffee grounds to grow mushrooms instead of expensive hardwood - also an idea from ZERI. Pauli has even coined a name for companies of this type: the blue economy. The book he wrote about this subject was sold globally, selling over 1.2 million copies.

Ecover

In his opinion, Pauli obtained his insights when he managed Ecover, he is best known in our country. Ecover is a progressive and ecological producer of detergents in the early 90s,

and became even more so when Pauli came on board and decided to build a fully sustainable factory. He left after a few years because he realised that the palm oil used by Ecover for its soaps was harvested on plantations ... as a result whole rain forests were cut down. "What's left of your sustainable model now?" he thought, and tried a different tack. In Pauli's world, companies must not always try to be cheaper by specialisin, they rather one step at the time earn money, not in the least on the basis of the waste that they produce themselves. But there is another version of the facts regarding Pauli's time at Ecover. He was accused of cheating with the figures and, above all, of being much too optimistic about the potential of the company. According to many people, Pauli did not leave of his own accord, but was kicked out, with a court case as well. He was called a boaster - inspiring, but too much of a dreamer to really run a business. And perhaps he

Pauli is not a woolly-minded young green. He is an entrepreneur who likes companies that make money. indeed may be just that - a dreamer but in a positive way. Better to have someone to inspire managers, rather than a true CEO. Someone who is able to question established thought patterns as an artist. That's not too far-fetched. According to Pauli, he will achieve more with his children’s stories, which have possibly been read more than his book "The blue economy" Pauli talks about the water metabolism of the desert beetle and the whale in a way to prepare our young children to tackle everything, including the economy, in a completely different way. What's wrong with being a boaster? # (jh) 7

No worries, we’re Belgian What do raspberries, solar power and federalism have to do with each other? It’s all pretty new to Brits, but it’s the daily fare for Belgians. So take it from us: the British market for solar energy is full of potential and is there to stay.

Being fanatical is not in our nature, but we Belgians know our strengths. Food, for example, and how to prepare it. If one of our absolute top chefs, Peter Goossens from the Michelin three star restaurant Hof Van Cleve, considers Scottish raspberries the best in the world, that really tells us something.

That they’re exceptionally good, of course. But also that there are raspberries growing in Scotland, of all places, which means that they seem to have local micro-climates where the sun shines more often than average. And this brings us to our second Belgian strength: solar energy. Because if a climate has the potential to grow raspberries, it also has the potential to generate solar power.

The fact that the first Scottish solar park of around 30 MW is being devel8

oped by the Belgian company IZEN is therefore far from a coincidence. In Tealing, near Dundee, the construction of the Tealing Solar Park is getting closer. IZEN has already carried out pioneering work with this kind of park in our own country, and is presenting the project to investors today, with the necessary permits and studies already in our pocket. ‘Tealing is the culmination of many years of hard work on our relationship with Great Britain’, says Jo Van Beek of IZEN. ‘Not only with regard to the park in Scotland, of course, but also in terms of many residential and industrial rooftop installations in the rest of the country. At this very moment, we’re building a solar farm in Telford, in the British Midlands, where the majority of our residential units are being installed. With 4 MW, this is also

IZEN loves the UK

the first solar park of this size to be built with public money. Our confidence in the British market is well-founded.

Solar energy has been late to develop in the United Kingdom, but still has a lot of potential.’

Why is that? Isn’t the British market fraught with questions about the future prospects of solar energy? Is the government not planning to withdraw major subsidies from large development projects exceeding 5 MW? That’s true. But we’re experts in this.

Belgium stepped into solar energy at a very early stage, with generous subsidies enabling large corporations to fill their roofs with solar panels as an investment that offered a better yield than the average bond. Solar energy became an investment product, rather than a profitable green option. Because the government contributed a lot of money, this also became an investment product that cost the whole community money, and actually increased the average energy bill. Despite the impetuous nature of the solar energy sector - and of its installers, distributors and suppliers - it also deflated just as quickly after the government reduced the subsidies. But, lo and behold, IZEN was one of the few

Scotland wants to be fully renewable by 2020. That’s not possible without solar power.

to remain standing. And today, a good year later, we are again installing more than a 1,000 residential installations a year - for customers who opt for the independence of green energy at a competitive price, without seeing a solar panel as a cash machine. Let’s just say that we know that solar energy is still on a difficult path to growth. But we have good reason to firmly believe that it’s an interesting and profitable market that’s here to stay. And that includes the United Kingdom.

Opportunities

‘There’s always a market for generating solar energy locally’, states Piet Defieuw of IZEN International. ‘Because this market is still trying to find a balance today, it’s partly defined by changing opportunities. That may cause some confusion, of course, but the basis is definitely stable. Especially if, as in Belgium today, grid parity has been reached as a result of cheaper installations and panels, and a highperformance technology.’

‘We note that the residential market is also running without subsidies, because the economics of solar energy also remain intact without them’, confirms Servaas Van Den Noortgate, Head

of IZEN International. ‘And we’re not even in that situation in Great Britain, where smaller installations are still subsidised. We’re therefore confident about continuing our work in the British market together with our local partner IZEN Energy Systems. They have everything in house that’s necessary to set up installations below 5 MW, while we

Yes, solar energy is on a difficult path to growth.

But we’re used to this. provide distribution back-up with and unique marketing formulas, and step in when larger projects are involved.’

According to Van Den Noortgate, the UK does, in fact, have a large potential of industrial rooftops that are suitable for solar energy using smaller systems.

‘That’s where we come on board as an energy supplier, financed by our sister company Green Ventures. Many corpo-

rate roofs are uncharted territory for cost-effective solar projects that enable customers to benefit over the long term from a keen, guaranteed price.’

Does this mean that the larger developments - those exceeding 5 MW - are doomed if the rules change? ‘We certainly hope that the proposed law will not be passed’, says Van Den Noortgate.

‘But on the other hand, the Tealing Solar Park, with 30 MW, is of such a size that it will still be able to compete against wind energy and hydro power, even with new regulations in place. We also shouldn’t forget that Scotland has put forward a plan to run one hundred percent on renewable energy by 2020.

They won’t achieve this without solar energy. Even though the Scots didn’t become independent, which would have meant they could have taken this decision on energy on their own, the increased autonomy that is now promised means that they will be closer to achieving this plan. And that makes everything possible again.’ And so we come to another of Belgian strengths.

Federalisation and regional autonomy ... again, we know all about this. In brief: we’re up for this job. # (jh) 9

The world is going crazy about the sun It's tempting to think of Europe as a green haven in a polluting world. But with each year this becomes less true.

The world is going crazy for solar panels. At the very moment we start to fall behind. "Let us hope we don't lose our know-how advantage."

In early August last year, the Chinese leaders did what they have done regularly since the days of Mao: retire to the seaside resort of Beidaihe together to quietly discuss and determine the outlines of their policies for the coming years. But what resulted from this was something completely different than business as usual. The Chinese decided to use their economic upturn as a spearhead for the green economy, a status that was previously solely reserved for pharmaceutics, biotechnology and steel. By 2015, the Chinese green sector needs to grow twice as fast as the rest of the economy, and will be worth no less than â‚Ź 545 billion. China wants to deploy cars and buses that create less pollution, and, although it has also included nuclear energy in its green objectives, this does not detract from the fact that 10

the country that is said to be one of the biggest polluters of the planet is making huge efforts in the areas of wind and solar energy. The Chinese want to install no less than 12 gigawatt (GW) of solar panels this year. And even though most analysts doubt the feasibility of this ambition and have assumed a figure around 9.3 GW, this is still almost double what they have today - which is twice as much as they had last year.

But it is not only China that is suddenly making massive steps with regard to solar energy - and thereby taking the initiative away from European countries.

Other Asian countries have also discovered the Eldorado of electricity. Japan is also the second largest investor in solar energy in the world this year, followed by the United States (another notorious polluter) at number three. Today, the

Asia-Pacific region leads the sun dance, with China, India, Japan, Thailand and Australia, who have together installed about 23 GW of solar panels this year more than any region has done in one year. Yet another record? An additional 45 GW of solar power has been added this year around the globe, more than in any other year, and a world of difference compared, to for example the 17 GW in 2010.

Sunbelt "The international increase in recent years is truly enormous," confirms Jo Van Beek, who is responsible for international trade at IZEN. "Until 2006, Germany was the main trigger of the market for solar panels, followed by countries like Italy and the Czech Re-

public in the top ten, but it has now completely moved to other regions. What's the reason for this? The price, of course.

In 2007, solar energy still cost â‚Ź 7.5 per peak watt, whereas it costs â‚Ź 1.5 today.

This decrease of the price of solar panels is the revolution behind the upturn.

Through this reduction, many countries are now faced with so-called grid parity: solar energy costs about the same as energy from traditional sources. The choice is then quickly made."

It's a simple choice for investors and countries interested in solar energy: they look at the amount of radiation from the sun (insolation), the traditional power price and the reliability of, for example, subsidies in a country. Combining these three factors, you can always work out whether solar energy is profitable. This sometimes leads to remarkable results: the oil-exporting countries from the Middle East, for example, have recently become particularly interested in solar energy, away from their black gold. On the other hand, however, there are also sunny countries where the traditional power price is too low to allow competition, sometimes as a result of government subsidies for polluting energy. And according to Van Beek, even a country like Britain with its rainy weather is indeed a good investment for solar energy due to its reliable government.

The outcome is rather logical in some countries. Mexico, for example, and Chile, which is being increasingly mentioned. In the deserts in the north of this South American country, there is literally nothing for hundreds of kilometres. Investment companies are now turning up to buy many hectares of sand and fill them with

solar panels. IZEN has a current project for a park with no less than 100 MW. What the two countries have in common is that they are one of the 66 so-called sun belt countries, which means that they are a maximum of 35 degrees from the equator. More than enough sun, therefore. The European sector organization of the solar industry calculated a long time ago that these countries could install 405 GW of solar panels in twenty years time, enough to provide electricity for 300 million people. If these countries really wanted to, even 1.1 terrawatt (TW) would be possible.

And Belgium?

But wait a moment - weren't solar panels completely out? Wasn't that an over-subsidized sector that caused the electricity price to rise, whereby Flanders converted the subsidies into a injection tariff that had to be paid? Was solar energy not a naive green mirage we had unmasked? Why is half the planet now going crazy about it? "The reason is purely psychological," says Van Beek. "Because the subsidies were abolished, people assumed that solar panels were no longer viable. There is grid parity in our country as well. The injection tariff has now been abolished again following a lawsuit. If it were to still be applied, we would be further away from grid parity. But, at the moment, we pay as much for solar energy as for classical electricity.

Analysts also confirm this. According to the authoritative IHS agency, 2014 is the year in which non-subsidized solar power will make the breakthrough.

"If you compare our situation with the Netherlands, for example, where they have kept it under review for a number

"Europeans must realize that the economics of solar panels are no longer dependent on subsidies."

of years and refrained from subsidies, it's precisely there that you will see a large increase in the popularity of solar energy. Although the electricity market is similar to that in Belgium. People must realize that the economics of solar panels are no longer dependent on subsidies. All that will take time. There was hardly a single solar panel installed in Belgium last year. The entire sector is simply gone, and we only have a handful of competitors left. We are therefore also pleased that solar energy is catching on in the rest of the world.

With the know-how we have built up in Belgium - one of the earliest markets - we can compete globally. Through our know-how, we have become an export product, and receive requests for tenders from the Middle East to South America. Only China is a closed market for foreigners. Let's just hope that the lead that Belgians have built in the field of know-how regarding solar energy will not be negated by the policies of the government."# (jh)

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the future looks green

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The world in 2040 25 years ago, IZEN started up as a rarity in a non-green world. Much has changed today. But let's still have a look 25 years further, on to 2040: how would our society look then in terms of energy? According to Geert Palmers, with his globally active 3E business and an absolute expert in the field of renewable energy, we will by then be able to emit no CO2 anymore. But there will have to be investments, and - above all - politicians must have the courage to make choices.

The 3E company gives major clients all around the world advice about the production and distribution of renewable energy, and develops software to efficiently monitor and control these processes. They are therefore an authority, and, for IZEN, big boss Geert Palmers looks into his crystal ball.

What will energy supply look like in the year 2040?

Of course he didn’t come up with everthing himself. There are already been several in-depth forecasts, in which the path to a virtually carbon-free future is mapped. What is striking here is that researchers generally assume a stable consumption: so we won't be consum-

ing less electricity. Why is that - don't we have to cut back?

Yes, energy efficiency should indeed increase on the one hand, as less electricity will be necessary in a range of sectors. On the other hand, however more electricity will also be necessary in order to replace fossil fuels, especially with regard to our transport needs.

The latter is just one of three major sectors that will have to fundamentally change over the coming decades.

Construction and the energy sector are the other two.

The skin of your house

Today's construction industry has come a long way along this path. When before World War II still consumed around 120,000 joules a year, this now has been more than halved, up to 56,000 joules. The European target is to reach zero in the year 2020.

A large part of the techniques needed to get there, is already known. Buildings must first be better insulated. And there must be a switch from passive to active houses. These are homes that actively use what nature offers. Using heat pumps 13

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The world in 2037

and a multi-functionnally 'skin' on the housing, with heating lights and ventilation regulated.

This means that homes will look very different. The children of the future will no longer draw houses with smoke coming out of the chimneys, because chimneys will have disappeared. Geert Palmers is convinced that renewable energy devices will be 'prettier'. The assembled solar panels of today will be replaced by integrated systems. Solar energy will no longer be a "visible" presence as a technology, but part of the building envelope.

Moreover, we will also pick up traditional energy-efficient building techniques from tropical countries, such as natural ventilation, use of materials that retain heat, and smart spatial planning. These traditional techniques do not require more electricity, but offer comfort.

But all this, of course, means that the rate at which buildings are now renovated must increase substantially - from one percent to at least three percent of existing buildings.

Solar fields and islands

The energy sector has also come a long way. For Palmers, 2012 was actually a milestone in energy history: for the first time, major projects for solar energy were constructed in all continents of the world, without subsidies. But the pace of change should increase further.

The most important finding here is that 14

In Europe, some five thousand square kilometres will be covered with solar panels it is indeed possible to switch over to renewable energy.

International forecasts show scenarios in which 80 percent of the conventional sources will be replaced by renewable energy by 2050. This could be up to 100 percent with an acceleration in innovation, which is a probable evolution. Above all, wind energy and solar energy will play a dominant role in this replacement.

Solar energy using photo-voltaic cells will be the most important technology.

One thousandth of the total surface area of Europe - or about five thousand square kilometres - will be covered with some form of solar panels. The panels will be more attractive, more standardised, less expensive and more efficient.

The wind energy will be generated from increasingly larger windmills. By 2050, 100,000 new wind turbines will be installed in the European Union. Half on land, half off-shore. The cost of these windmills, as well as other renewable energy sources, will be fully reflected in the prices for consumers. In other words, without subsidies, and including

the recycling at the end of the lifetime of projects. The energy price will not drop immediately. But a significant technological evolution will also take place here, with more diversity in the technologies being used.

When the stable production of conventional energy has indeed been replaced by a more variable production of renewable energy, this will, of course, also require adjustments to the electricity network. The specialized software needed to manage the network, the connected consumers and the available renewable energy will be very important. Peaks and troughs need to be better supervised. In this way, the demand of energy can be dependent on the supply, so that, for example, a number of large energy consumers will increasingly work at night, when supply more often exceeds demand nowadays.

That might work for part of the industry.

But even then it will be difficult, for example, to completely supply the industry in the port of Antwerp with renewable energy that is generated locally. This will also be a problem for large cities. Part of their energy must therefore come from further away - and sometimes much further. It is therefore necessary to invest in inter-continental electricity networks.

The situation for remote communities is completely reversed: smaller cities and villages that are not connected to the large electricity grid. These are referred to as 'islands'. A number of innovations

are needed in order to provide them with local energy. We are then talking about the production of renewable energy and about the storage in batteries in order to make communities locally energy independent.

The storage of energy then has to be much cheaper. But Palmers is confident about this as we look over a period of 25 years. Better batteries, including those for electric cars, are so important that there has to be a breakthrough for example, due to mass production in China. That should reduce the price that such islands have to pay for their energy. Even though the price will be different from island to island, because they are so different from each other.

All this, of course, will require substantial investments in the electricity grid.

The current pace of investments needs to increase from nearly â‚Ź 30 billion a year to approximately â‚Ź 70 billion.

That's a lot of money, and, in addition, public resistance will also have to be overcome. Construction must take place both above and below ground to obtain a larger network. That’s where Palmers fears a lack of political courage and a prolonged fight for the

necessary building permits. The NIMBY syndrome - not in my backyard - still awaits us.

Smoke-free cities

The third and last sector to be examined is the transport sector. As far as Palmers is concerned, the current system is not something to be proud of, with high energy consumption and low efficiency. Nowadays, cars drivng in the cities are only as fast as horses in the Middle Ages.

The most important change according to our expert is undoubtedly the rise of the electric car. He sees a much lower market share for bio-fuels and hydrogen.

He also expects that C02-free cities - where the classic car is no longer allowed - will even become as normal as smoke-free pubs. Hotly disputed at first, but inevitable.

Can this really be true? 'Yes' is the reply. Geert Palmers is very optimistic about the feasibility of this future in the technological field. But there are several very significant challenges. Huge investments have to be carried out. But

CO2-free cities where non-electric cars are not allowed will be just as common as smoke-free pubs as technological innovation accelerates and the prices for conventional energy sources continue to rise, these investments will become profitable.

The sheer production of these investments will also be a challenge. Companies will need to have sufficient scale to be able to build the necessary infrastructure in the coming years.

Moreover, the raw materials needed for certain technologies, for example for batteries, have to be handled efficiently.

But Palmers' real fears lie in the political and social field. Policy must move fast enough to make the necessary choices. Society must be willing to make investments, and must accept that the necessary infrastructure has to be built. This can be done technologically, but will people want to do it? # (ddw)

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IZEN’s giant international leap

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Sun at el fin del mundo Solar panels have their own heaven, and it’s called Chile. The Atacama Desert is rapidly changing into a constant power source. IZEN is involved, of course, with its largest international project to date. Welcome to the end of the world.

There’s not much to do at the moment in Quillagua, a Chilean village of some 80 souls. In fact, nothing at all. The Atacama Desert, the driest place on the planet, extends for hundreds of miles all around. There is only one teacher for all the children, and they have to go to the city for secondary education.

No wonder that all the young people are moving away, especially as the water that once gave the village its name and its agricultural prosperity, has become polluted by heavy metals and has decreased in water level due to mining operations in the region. But not Mauricio. He stayed. From a professional ambition - and rightly so. Because, after the water, Quillagua seems to be developing again, with better times ahead. The village in which electricity generators start working between 6 pm and 2 a.m., will soon be surrounded by solar panels. 80,000 solar panels in a first phase - installed

by IZEN. In time, there could be as many as 400,000 panels here alone. Mauricio - the first, but certainly not the last local to be employed by IZEN - doesn’t know where to look first.

The choice of Quillagua is less far-fetched than it seems at first sight. The Atacama is one of the brightest spots in the

world, and also has very high levels of solar radiation (the intensity of the sun’s rays). Chile itself is one of the best running economies in South America, with lots of power-hungry operations. This combination of lots of sunshine and an electricity price that is high enough to make investments - as is the case in most modern economies - has attracted the attention of the solar energy sector over the last few years.

Moreover the political stability in Chile has contributed to the countries’ attractiveness for solar investment. There’s a good chance that a large areas in the Atacama will have a solar park installed in the coming year. A new large PV park opens somewhere every couple of months. 7 GW of projects have been environmentally approved, of which only 1 GW has already been built or is under construction. Compared with 3GW installed in Belgium, these are significant numbers. Especially for a Latin-American country, where renewable energy has only recently been gaining interest.. What’s more, with a huge area of hydro power plants in the rugged south of Chile, and several wind farms along its almost endless coast, 17

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this country has an incredible potential in terms of renewable energy, especially if grid capacities will be adjusted accordingly.

DUSTY

But there’s not much of that to be seen today, at least in Quillagua. The only solar panels that can be found there, are part of a small test installation of 12 and are closely monitored by Mauricio. He carries out measurements in order to get the efficiency of the tens of thousands of future panels as high as possible - not the least due to the only downside of the Atacama: a particularly fine form of dust. It looks as if each panel will have to be made dust-free several times a year.

It’s just one of the challenges that a specialized company like IZEN is confronted with in foreign countries. Or to put it more accurately, with which IZEN expatriates Marijn Janssens and Louis Huber are confronted with 1.600 kilometers away, in the capital Santiago de Chile.

“If you want to work in this country, you simply have to live in the capital,” explains Marijn Janssens. “Almost the whole country lives or works here, while the rest of Chile is very sparsely populated by comparison. And everyone who lives, works hard. There doesn’t seem to be a 9 to 5 job. That is also not the only cliché, about Latinos, that I’ve had to debunk here. At the headquarters of IZEN in Belgium, they still think that I’m living in the land of salsa and fun. But Chilean bands are more rock-pop orientated, the national dance doesn’t involve any hip-swaying and the climate is not tropical. Chile is actually above all a very similar to a European country.

Furthermore it’s the most developed country on the continent. They call it ‘el fin del mundo’, the end of the world. An isolated corner of South America, hidden behind the Andes mountains. “But because it doesn’t meet the clichés doesn’t mean that it’s not fun to live here. The selection of activities is enormous, especially at weekends. You’re only an hour away from skiing, rafting, going to the coast or visiting a vineyard.

Chileans are real outdoor people, so a wide range of sports facilities can be found everywhere. I’m now trying out wave surfing - with the emphasis on ‘trying’. In the ice-cold Pacific, by the way. Another sunny cliché that has proved untrue.”

QUANTUM LEAP

This is a story of adventures. For Marijn and Louis, who travel every day in a crowded subway on a far-away continent. For Chile itself, transforming a dry wasteland into a green solar hub. But also for IZEN itself. With operations in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Denmark and other EU countries, the company already has a good chunk of international experience. But in terms of magnitude, Chile is at another level. “It is quite paradoxical that it comes at a time when the Belgian market has collapsed, ‘says Marijn. “At home, everything about solar panels is reported so negatively, and the talk is only about subsidies. Whereas here, and in many others countries, including European countries, the market is gaining momentum without subsidies. Large areas of the Atacama will be full of solar panels within a few decades 18

“But I certainly believe that our home market will remain important. We are the supplier for group purchases in Antwerp, and solar energy will play a greater role in new construction - the Belgian story is not over. But the international story on its own will become more important. You can see the potential here, and they don’t have the experience needed at this moment to get that out. In that respect, maybe the crisis in Europe was a good thing. Companies like ourselves opened our eyes to a more global picture, and we now find that this is perhaps the beginning of an even bigger story.� # (jh)

Companies such as ourselves opened our eyes to a more global picture and we found a much larger story

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IZEN international experienced EPC Contractor in pv

pROJECT DESIGN | ENGINEERING | PROCUREMENT CONSTRUCTION | MONITORING | MAINTENANCE

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IZEN

projects Sarulesti Romania 2013 6 MW Wijngaard Natie (Natie vineyard) Antwerp 1,200 kWp

Sibelco 279.36 kWp

Project 2012 Wijngaard Natie Location Antwerp Customer Wijngaardnatie NV Installation size 4 x 312 kWp Modules ReneSola 240 Wp - 1,300p Inverters REFUsol 20k - 13p Frames VME - aluminium

Project 2012 Sibelco Location Dessel Customer SCR-Sibelco NV Installation size 279.36 kWp Modules ReneSola 240 Wp - 608p ReneSola 245 Wp - 576p Inverters REFUsol 20k - 13p Frames VME - aluminium

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Machiels Opglabbeek 1.3 MW Project 2010 Machiels Opglabbeek Location Machiels Opglabbeek Belgium Customer Machiels nv Hasselt Installation size 1.3 MW

Project 2011 Zonnecentrale Tongeren Location Hรถdlmayr International Tongeren

Zonnecentrale

Customer Machiels nv Hasselt

Heusden Zolder

4,704 kWp

Hรถdlmayr International

Installation size 4,536 kWp Modules Upsolar 210 wp - 21,600 p Inverters REFUsol 10 K - 152 p Frames VME - aluminium

Tongeren

4.36 kWp

Project 2008 Zonnecentrale Heusden-Zolder Location Machiels - LRM Heusden Heusden-Zolder Customer Machiels nv Hasselt Installation size 4,704 kWp Modules Upsolar 200 wp - 23 520 p Inverters REFUsol 15 K - 245 p Frames VME - aluminium

Project 2011 Siponto Location Siponto - SAS Di Tinasol SRL Manfredonia (IT) Customer Siponto - SAS Di Tinasol SRL Installation size 956.8 kWp Modules Renesola 230 wp - 4,160 p Inverters REFUsol 20 K - 52 p Frames VME - aluminium

Siponto Manfredonia Italy

956.8 kWp

http://www.youtube.com/ user/IZENGROUP

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international

Solar plant 4 MW

Solar plant 115 MW

Telford

quillagua

3966 MWh Yearly generated electricity

first phase 23 MW 76800 modules

equivalent of 1130 households supplied with electricity

total project 450.000 modules

United Kingdom

(with a yearly consumption of 3,500KWh)

www.IZEN.eu 24

Chile