Jun 7 2006
GE Energy Financial Services, PowerLight Corporation and Catavento Lda broke ground today on the world's largest solar photovoltaic power project. The 11-megawatt solar power plant, comprising 52,000 photovoltaic modules, is under construction in Serpa, Portugal, 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Lisbon in one of Europe's sunniest areas.
GE Energy Financial Services is financing and will own the facility in a $75 million transaction. PowerLight, a leading global solar power system provider, has designed, and will operate and maintain this solar power plant employing the company's innovative PowerTracker system. Catavento, a leading Portuguese renewable energy company, developed the project and will provide management services. Deliveries of photovoltaic modules and structural steel have begun, and construction of an electric substation is under way. The project - on a 60-hectare (150-acre) southern-facing hillside that will remain productive farmland -- is scheduled for full power operation by January 2007.
With no fuel cost or emissions, the Serpa solar installation will produce electricity sufficient to power 8,000 homes and save more than 30,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions compared with equivalent fossil fuel generation.
The project is expected to be Portugal's first large photovoltaic installation to go online.
PowerLight's PowerTracker is the world's most widely used solar power system for large-scale power plants because of its efficiency and reliability. The company's patented tracking technology follows the sun as it moves across the sky throughout the day, generating more electricity than conventional fixed-mount systems.
http://www.geenergyfinancialservices.com