The 62-megawatt plant, which will use 350,000 solar panels spread over an area the size of 150 football pitches, represents a leap forward for solar energy as it moves out of small-scale use into producing electricity in large quantities.
The €250m (£168m) Girassol plant will be 12 times the size of the biggest solar power plant currently in operation near Leipzig in Germany. "The construction of the power station will begin in 2006," Moura's mayor, Jose Maria Pos-de-Mina, told journalists. The Girassol plant will be located in one of the poorest regions of Portugal, the sun-baked Alentejo.
Those involved in the project say it will allow solar power to start competing with wind power as a large-scale generator of renewable energy.
"Photo-voltaic power is anecdotal at the moment compared to other power station sources. With this, it can start to become a player," Francisco Conesa, commercial director for BP Solar in southern Europe, said yesterday.
Despite its green credentials, the Girassol project will have a huge visual impact on the largely unspoilt Alentejo. It will cover 112 hectares in the valley of Baldio das Ferrarias, an area equivalent in size to three-quarters of London's Hyde Park, with solar panels.
The Moura station is still awaiting its licence from the Portuguese ministry for industry. That will set the final price at which the clean electricity can be sold into the national grid. Girassol's owners have lobbied for a significant premium over non-renewable power sources because it will not generate serious ecological costs in the future.
Local people will, through their town hall, be taking on much of the financial risk for the project. Moura's town hall holds 90% of the capital in Amper.
BP Solar will build a solar panel factory at the site, which it says will create 240 full-time jobs. Girassol is planned to come on line in 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/renewable/Story/0,2763,1570304,00.html
