|
27 March 2007 -- GE Energy Financial Services, PowerLight (a unit of SunPower Corp.) and Catavento formally dedicated an 11 MW solar power plant in Portugal's Alentejo region in the town of Serpa, 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Lisbon.
Construction began in June 2006 and was completed this past January. The facility consists of a ground-mounted photovoltaic system that uses silicon solar cell technology to convert sunlight directly into energy. The Serpa solar power plant uses photovoltaic modules from SunPower, Sanyo, Sharp and Suntech.
GE Energy Financial Services financed and purchased the project in an approximately $75 million transaction last year. PowerLight designed, deployed, operates and maintains the plant. And Catavento, a Portuguese renewable energy company, developed and manages the project, which began feeding Portugal's electricity grid in late January.
The Serpa plant is on a 60-hectare (150-acre) hillside, equivalent to the area of more than 80 football fields. The project supports a European Union initiative by saving more than 30,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions compared to equivalent fossil fuel generation. The EU this month agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020, from 1990 levels.
According to a news statement, Portugal relies heavily on imported fossil fuels and its carbon dioxide emissions have increased 34 percent since 1990. The Serpa project relies on a preferential tariff mandated by the Portuguese government.
At the dedication event, a 3.7 million euro ($4.8 million) contract was signed for a grant to the project under the Portuguese government's Economic Modernization Program.
| 
Articles 
| View all PennWell sites | View all PennWell events
Add RSS Feed
