For SunEnergy Europe, 10th October 2010 was an exceptional day, which saw the official opening of Northern Germany’s largest solar park financed by citizen participation. Graced by glorious weather, the event started with an inaugural ceremony at the ballroom of the “Erheiterung” restaurant in Meldorf. SunEnergy Europe and its partners were pleased to be able to welcome the two energy policy spokesmen from the respective state parliamentary factions, Mr Olaf Schulze (SPD) and Mr Detlef Matthiesen (Bündnis90/Die Grünen), to the festivities. Following ceremonial speeches and expressions of thanks – including from the Mayor Mr Reinhard Pissowotzki – guests were then taken by shuttle bus to the solar park. This gave all those involved the chance to gain their own impressions of the site.

With a total capacity of 7.65 megawatt peak (MWp), the Meldorf Solar Park is one of Northern Germany’s largest parks. It was fully completed and connected to the grid this summer. The solar park was financed using a citizen participation model, which was developed in close collaboration with Meldorf’s politicians and authorities. 350 investors, 161 of whom are from the region, acquired an interest in the plant operator, Solarenergie Nord GmbH & Co. KG. Around 2.4 million euros were raised by citizens in and around Meldorf for their equity stake. This equates to approximately half the solar park’s equity capital.