Work begins on Sweden’s largest rooftop PV project

Swedish logistics property company Logicenters has announced the start of work on what it is calling the largest Nordic rooftop solar plant.

The PV system is being deployed at a logistics center of Stockholm-based real estate investment parent company NREP, in Borås, in the Västra Götaland county on the western coast of Sweden.

The solar array will supply part of the electricity demand of Swedish logistics specialist Speed Group, which is the building’s tenant. Surplus power will be injected into the grid and sold to the inhabitants of the local municipality cheaper than current market prices, according to Logicenters.

The company said electricity prices have been 40% higher in central Sweden than in the north this year. “It shows very clearly that we have a lack of transmission capacity and too little electricity generation south of the Dalälven river,” said Logicenters. “This means that solar electricity, when it is developed on both roofs and in solar parks, can make an important contribution to the demand for electricity during the summer months in central and southern Sweden.”

The company added, the installation will be subject to a tax on the electricity generated from renewables. The Swedish government recently decided to increase the size of arrays which would be exempt from the tax, from 225 kW to 500 kW.

“The Borås plant is ten times that size,” said Logicenters. “The companies behind the solar plant in Borås have the capacity to contribute electricity from renewable energy sources but are calling on the government to rethink and remove the limit altogether.”