An 11-megawatt solar power plant that’s among the largest photovoltaic projects in the world will provide power to some 8000 homes in Portugal after it’s completed in January 2007.
The plant will use a ground-mounted PV system comprising 52 000 modules and is being built on a 150-acre hillside in Serpa, a sleepy agricultural hilltop town in southeast Portugal, one of Europe’s sunniest regions. Two local farmers are renting out the south-facing parcel under a 25-year contract.
Three businesses are involved in the €61 million ($78 million) project. Portuguese renewable-energy company Catavento Lda developed the project; GE Energy Financial Services of Stamford, Connecticut, is financing it and will own the plant; and PowerLight Corp of Berkeley, California, a solar power system provider, designed the plant and will operate and maintain it.
Portugal was attractive to GE EFS for such an investment because of the region’s perpetually sunny climate and because...
