Portugal starts huge
solar plant
Wednesday, 7 June 2006
Construction work has begun in southern Portugal
on what is set to be the world's largest solar power
station.
The 58m euro (£40m) plant near Serpa,
200km (125 miles) south of Lisbon, will produce
enough electricity for 8,000 homes when it starts
next January.
 |
| The plant in
Portugal will be similar to an existing one
in Bavaria, Germany. |
The 11-megawatt solar
power plant, to be made up of 52,000 photovoltaic
modules, will cover a 60-hectare (150-acre)
southern-facing hillside.
Portugal plans other solar plants to counter a rise
in carbon emissions.
The project in the sunny Alentejo region has been
developed by Portuguese renewable energy company
Catavento, in conjunction with solar polar provider
Powerlight and funded by General Electric Energy
Financial Services.
The panels will be raised around two metres off the
grass which, Catavento's Piero Dal Maso says, the
sheep will take care of.
"The Serpa solar power project, along with other
renewable energy initiatives, helps lay the
foundation for Portugal's energy future," he said.
"The project takes maximum advantage of the
excellent environmental conditions in Portugal for
solar power."
Renewable future
He told the BBC World Today programme that they were
expecting a good yield.
"It should provide energy enough for 8,000 homes. It
will save 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, so that is
probably around 1% of domestic consumption of
Portugal.
Mr Dal Maso says he believes the future will need a
mix of renewable energies - wind, solar, water and
wave energies to help provide coverage.
"It is a drop, but we think in Portugal that it will
make sense to use renewables to get away from oil
issues and the dependency on energy from outside
which we have in Portugal."
The plant will use PowerLight's PowerTracker
technology which follows the sun as it moves across
the sky throughout the day. The firm say this
generates more electricity than conventional
fixed-mount systems. |
