Portugal opens major solar plant from bbc news
Portugal has inaugurated what it says is the world's most powerful solar power plant.
The array of electricity-generating solar panels covers about 60 hectares (150 acres) in one of Europe's sunniest areas in southern Portugal.
Officials say the plant should produce enough energy to supply 8,000 homes.
The plant is part of Portugal's efforts to cut its reliance on imported fuel and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that add to global warming.
The plant is also meant to bring development and jobs to the Alentejo region 200km (125 miles) southeast of Lisbon, a poor area traditionally dominated by cork and olive production.
Renewable energy drive
The 11-megawatt plant has 52,000 photovoltaic modules, which will produce 20 gigawatt hours of power each year.
Burning fossil fuels to generate the same amount of energy would result in 30,000 tons of greenhouse gases being emitted over the course of a year.
"This project is successful because Portugal's sunshine is plentiful, the solar power technology is proven [and] government policies are supportive," said Kevin Walsh of Renewable Energy GE, which built the project.
The facility was designed by PowerLight which will also operates and maintains it.
Portugal is developing wind, solar and wave power projects as part of a plan to invest $10bn (�5bn) in renewable energy over the next five years.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said he wants 45% of Portugal's power consumption to come from renewable energy by 2010.
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The world’s largest solar photovoltaic power plant, located in southern Alentejo, become fully operational this week and at its peak, will generate enough energy to power eight thousand homes.
Portugal’s Alentejo region this week welcomed a solar energy plant that produces double that of the previous largest plant which is based in Germany.
The plant was built at an estimated cost 61 million euros and consists of 52,000 photovoltaic modules generating 11 megawatts.
The plant is run by a consortium that includes national company Catavento, General Electrics (who financed the project) and Powerlight, international supplier of solar energy and who will be in charge of maintenance at the plant.
The environment will reap huge benefits from the plant, administrators say.
Under normal circumstances, in order to supply energy to eight thousand homes, more than 30,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in fossil fuels would be generated.
Tom Dinwoodie, CEO of PowerLight, in a recent press statement, called the project a "solar industry milestone."
The plant is in Serpa, which is one of Europe's sunniest areas.
It is built on a 60-hectare (150-acre) southern-facing hillside that will remain productive farmland.
The plant has meanwhile announced a tariff of 0.31 euros per kilowatt/hour that will be sold to national electricity network.
It took six hundred workers to build the plant, but will only require five permanent workers now that it is fully operational.
However, the Serpa plant is set to be the biggest only until 2009, when neighbouring Moura intends to open one that will generate three times more energy.
"The construction of the station is clearly irreversible," Moura Mayor Jose Maria Pos-de-Mina said last year.
The plant will have 350,000 solar panels spread over 114 hectares and will be able to produce 62 megawatts.
The plant is expected to be completed in 2009 and will cost an estimated 250 million euros to complete.
The decision to go ahead with the power station was taken after a viability showed that Moura has among the highest levels of solar radiation in the world.
It will be built by BP Solar, a unit of energy giant BP, and it is expected to create 240 permanent jobs in the southern province of Alentejo, one of Europe's poorest regions.
"This is a unique project and the world’s most ambitious in terms of final capacity," said BP Solar commercial director for southern Europe, Mr Francisco Conesa.
Under the United Nations Kyoto Protocol, which Portugal has signed, Portugal must generate 39 per cent of its electricity needs through renewable energy sources by 2009.
From the Portugal News
Posted by: kev | April 2, 2007 5:34 PM