The ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of earthworks on the Pfannenberg. From left: Thomas Pilawa (CEO Gebr. Schmidt), from SCHÄFER: Jochen Bruch (Construction Department), Thomas Kempf (Head of Maintenance), Beate Schäfer-Henrichs (Partner), Olaf Schlosser (Head of Central Purchasing), Marcus Düber (Managing Director); from CUBE CONCEPTS S. L.: Jochen Schäfer (Managing Director), Architect: Christian Weber.
Neunkirchen, September 27, 2023: On the Pfannenberg in Neunkirchen, the SCHÄFER Werke GmbH & Co. KG The ground-breaking ceremony for the largest ground-mounted PV system to date in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district took place in the German town of Siegen-Wittgenstein. With the PV system planned by CUBE CONCEPTS, the group of companies is making great strides towards its planned climate neutrality by 2030. The SCHÄFER WERKE Group is a family business and unites many generations under one roof. The topic of sustainability is a high priority.
The family-run SCHÄFER WERKE Group, headquartered in Neunkirchen in the Siegerland region, operates worldwide with diversified business divisions: EMW Steel Service Center, perforated sheets, container systems and industrial containers, infrastructure for data centers as well as office and workshop equipment. These divisions work on the common basis of high-quality steel sheet, the processing of which is one of the company's traditional core competencies.
In order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and improve energy security, the company is building a solar park on an area of around 11,500 square meters to the north-east of the company premises. Up to 4,560 solar modules will generate an output of two megawatt peak (2 MWp). This will cover around a third of the total electricity requirements of the locally based SCHÄFER WERKE. The site offers space for plants, insects, birds and reptiles, among other things. The site will also be enhanced by the planned grazing.
For the SCHÄFER WERKE Group, the construction of the solar park is an important step towards becoming more self-sufficient from other sources of electricity and also reducing its CO2-balance by around 1,260 tons of carbon dioxide per year. "For SCHÄFER, this investment is of outstanding importance with regard to our goal of climate neutrality by 2030. With this plant, we are investing in a sustainable future and significantly improving our ecological balance sheet," says Marcus Düber, Managing Director of SCHÄFER Werke GmbH & Co. KG.
The system was planned by CUBE CONCEPTS. "The wide network of experienced solar specialists allows us to always find a sustainable solution. We are delighted that we can now move from planning to concrete implementation with the start of construction work," says Luca Bermpohl, Account Manager at CUBE CONCEPTS.
Commissioning of the plant is planned for spring 2024.