Portugal's Huge solar power station

[Guest guest]

Huge solar power station planned for Portugal

 

German consortium says impoverished suntrap is ideal site

 

Giles Tremlett

Friday May 6, 2005

The Guardian

 

A plan to build the world's biggest solar energy power station,

covering about 250 hectares and capable of sustaining 130,000

households, has been unveiled in Portugal.

The park would be visible from space, according to a spokesman for

the owners of the site at an abandoned pyrite mine near the town of

Beja, in the southern Alentejo region.

 

With a potential output of 116 megawatts, the new station would be

several times the size of what is now the world's largest solar

energy plant. The output would be fed into the Portuguese electricity

grid at a government-set price.

 

A consortium of mainly German companies plans to erect 116 hexagonal

clusters of solar panels. A German manufacturer of solar panels has

said it also plans to build a factory at the site, bringing 250

permanent jobs to one of the poorest regions of Europe.

The Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negocios reported yesterday that

investment would total €426m (£290m) and the multinational company

Siemens would be involved in building the power plant.

 

The Mina Sao Domingos pyrite mine was run by a British company, Mason

and Barry.

 

The mine, founded in the 1870s and closed in the 1960s, was run by

British engineers for much of its life and involved both opencast and

underground excavation.

 

Helmfield Horster, managing director of the company that owns the

site, said the banks and inclines of the reservoirs were already

close to having the 32 degree slope that allows solar panels to make

best use of the sun's rays.

 

"That means we will be able to mount most of them on wooden frames

rather than the metal ones that are often used," he said.

 

Mr Horster said that the yellow banks would have to be covered with

something dark grey. Acid water that had pooled in the reservoirs has

killed all vegetation.

 

Mr Horster said permission had already been granted by the

environment ministry and the consortium was awaiting the go-ahead

from the Portuguese government.

 

"There has been a change of government so they have not had time to

look at it yet," he said.

 

With 1,890 kilowatt hours of sunshine per square metre a year, the

parched and thinly populated Alentejo is one of the most promising

areas on the continent for solar power.

 

"This is definitely one of the sunniest spots in Europe," Mr Horster

said.

 

He added that the solar park and factory would have a big impact on

the Alentejo region, creating three jobs in ancillary areas for every

employee working directly on the solar power plant or in the factory.

 

"It will have a structural effect on the whole area," he said. "The

local authorities are very enthusiastic."

 

The project would be financed by special renewable energy investment

funds set up by international banks. Building the full new power

plant will take four to five years.

 

With the old mine site occupying much more than the 250 hectares (620

acres) set aside for the project the consortium said that it could

expand operations if that became necessary.

 

Last year a solar power plant near Leipzig pronounced itself to be

the world's largest, though it produces a relatively small five

megawatts on a 20 hectare site.

 

A 15 megawatt solar power station being built in South Korea is due

to be opened next year. Israel, meanwhile, is reportedly planning a

100 megawatt solar power station for the Negev desert - with

potential for expansion at a later date.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/renewable/Story/0,2763,1477722,00.html

[dewanand 0]

is this CSP or Photovoltaic? What is the source of this information?

 

it is great news for solar lovers like me.

 

dewanand