Europe’s largest solar plant (an area as large as 120 football pitches) will go online in Italy later this year. Located in northeastern Italy, in the province of Rovigo, the plant will generate 72 megawatts and will take up 850,000 square metres.
Currently, Europe’s biggest plant is located in Spain, producing about 60 megawatts and the second biggest is in Germany, generating 50 megawatts. “The photovoltaic park in Rovigo province is a milestone in the development and establishment of solar energy in Italy,” SunEdison’s general manager for Italy, Liborio Francesco Nanni, said in a statement.
According to the company, the total investment will be between $273 and $342 million. In the second half of 2010 the solar plant will begin to produce energy and by the end of the year it will be fully operational.
During its first year of operation, the plant will prevent the emission of 41,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and will cover the electricity needs of 17,000 households. SunEdison, the company that will build this solar power plant is the third biggest in the world and the first in the United States.
[Source: Physorg]
