The meeco Group pursues growth in Latin America thanks to off-grid projects
Present in both North and South America, The meeco Group is strategically positioned to answer clean energy needs in both regions. However, the situation is very different from one market to other. “In the United States, power purchase agreement prices have significantly decreased during 2012 and the Federal cash-grant program has was allowed to expire. As a result, clients for many PV projects are large companies that can utilize the Federal tax credit and accelerated depreciation rules,” explains Stuart Moss, directing The meeco Group’s activities in North America and parts of South America. As a consequence, The meeco Group has decided to focus its activity in Latin America. Markets such as Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Mexico, and Ecuador are growing in part thanks to the global cost reduction of PV technology during 2012.
As Latin American electricity prices remain extremely low, the demand for solar energy predominantly concerns off-grid projects. In countries such as Paraguay, where a high percentage of the territory is uninhabited or agriculturally exploited, the demand for solar energy has reached a turning point as these regions are clearly off the national electricity grid. “Solar PV energy’s perception has dramatically changed over the course of the last two years, from being a niche market to a mainstream source of solutions here in Paraguay”, declares Dr. Oliver Jann, President of meeco América Latina S.A. “Most projects we are working on in Latin America, for business applications, residential off grid projects as well as agricultural operations are all located in remote off-grid areas”, adds Dr Jann. “In these markets we have noticed a strong demand for our sun2flow solar water pumping systems, with already 10 large systems in operation and another 3 in execution plus many alternative applications such as the sun2live”.
Given the interest generated in the region by the sun2flow and sun2live solutions, The meeco Group expects an exponential growth of especially its solar water pumping solutions and a growing demand for the sun2live residential solar solutions. “We foresee a very good year in 2013 in the Latin American renewable energy sector. The Americas continue to be a strategic market for us”, declares Dieter Trutschler, Sales Director for The meeco Group. “We are proud to offer some of the most innovative energy solutions specially designed for this market.”
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