GE Invests in One of World’s Largest Solar Power Plants in Portugal
General Electric (GE), PowerLight Corp. and Catavento SA announced the successful implementation of 52,000 photovoltaic modules in what is claimed to be one of the world’s largest solar power plants. The plant, located in Serpa, Portugal, has begun generating enough electricity for 8,000 homes. After eight months of construction and testing, GE Energy Financial Services, PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corp. and Catavento dedicated the 11MW Serpa solar power plant on schedule.
GE Energy Financial Services financed and purchased the project in an approximately US $75 million transaction last year. PowerLight designed, deployed, operates and maintains the plant. The plant uses PowerLight’s PowerTracker® system that follows the sun’s daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. Catavento, a leading Portuguese renewable energy company, developed and manages the project, which began feeding Portugal’s electricity grid in late January.
Generating electricity from the sun with no fuel costs or emissions, the Serpa plant is on a 60-hectare (150-acre) hillside. 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% by 2020, from 1990 levels.
Portugal relies heavily on imported fossil fuels, and its carbon dioxide emissions have increased 34% since 1990, among the fastest rates in the world. To address this, the country is implementing some of the world’s most advanced incentives for installing renewable energy. The Serpa project relies on a preferential tariff mandated by the Portuguese government. A €3.7 million (US $4.8 million) contract was signed for a grant to the project under the Portuguese government’s Economic Modernization Program.
Construction of the Serpa project began in June 2006 and was completed as planned in January 2007. 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 incorporates photovoltaic modules from SunPower, Sanyo, Sharp and Suntech.
