- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Article continues 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.
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- The Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negocios reported
yesterday that investment would total Ä426m (£290m) and the
multinational company Siemens would be involved in building the power
plant.
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- The Mina Sao Domingos pyrite mine was run by a British
company, Mason and Barry.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- 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.
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- Mr Horster said permission had already been granted by
the environment ministry and the consortium was awaiting the go-ahead from
the Portuguese government.
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- "There has been a change of government so they have
not had time to look at it yet," he said.
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- 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.
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- "This is definitely one of the sunniest spots in
Europe," Mr Horster said.
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- 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.
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- "It will have a structural effect on the whole
area,"
he said. "The local authorities are very enthusiastic."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2005
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/renewable
- /Story/0,2763,1477722,00.html
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