SunEdison, a provider of solar energy services and a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, has successfully interconnected a 70 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Northeast Italy, near the town of Rovigo.
The deployment, which is now the largest single-operating PV solar power plant in Europe, was completed and interconnected in a nine-month time period.
"With construction completion in less than one year, we believe this deployment signifies a new milestone for the industry and will become the standard for future mega projects," said Carlos Domenech, President of SunEdison.
The Rovigo solar plant will create significant environmental benefits over its expected lifetime. In its first year of operation alone, the system is expected to generate enough energy to power more than 16,500 homes and prevent the emission of more than 40,000 tons of CO(2), equivalent to the removal of 8,000 cars from the road.
"The combination of a strong regulatory environment, a stable tariff regime and reliable solar exposure are attractive characteristics for the Italian solar market,"commented Mark Florian, Managing Director of First Reserve Energy Infrastructure.
