The Minister of Universities, Business and Research, Salvador Marín, accompanied by the mayor of Lorca, Francisco Jódar, presided on Tuesday the signing of the agreement of intentions between Andaltia and the multinationals Schneider Electric and Sun Power to cooperate in the development of the photovoltaic solar power plant of 400 megawatts (MW) and the possibility of launching production centers to supply technology and equipment.
The inclusion of these two leading companies is another "milestone" in the construction of the largest photovoltaic solar energy production facility currently planned in Europe and will contribute to turning Lorca into a "national and international pole in terms of renewable energies", according to regional government sources in a statement.
Likewise, the companies Sun Tech and Yingli Solar have also signed similar agreements and from the Autonomous Community and the City of Lorca an important management work and administrative streamlining is being carried out to make this project that generates employment and wealth a reality.
The signing of this agreement, according to the Community, comes to "consolidate the collaboration agreement that the Community signed with Andaltia, which reflected the commitment to stock up on technology and collaborate with companies and research and technological centers based in the Region for the construction of the Lorca photovoltaic solar power plant and other projects of the company".
This business initiative is the result of the Industrial Plan and the Investment Attraction Plan launched by the regional government, whose main objective is to promote the development, diversification and strengthening of the productive fabric of the Region.
THE PROJECT
The Andaltia project will involve the construction of the largest solar power plant in Europe. The facility will be able to generate electricity to supply 200,000 homes, with the addition that thanks to R + D + i and economies of scale, it will be able to produce energy in an ordinary regime, that is, at a price that competes with that of coal- thermal, combined cycle or nuclear power plants.
With the start-up of this plant, Lorca will host a project with an estimated investment of one billion euros and will generate 590 direct jobs, according to the Community.
The plant will be developed in four phases, the first of which will have an investment of 114 million euros and will need a thousand operators for the commissioning of a first phase of 40 MW of power, while the second will be 50 MW with a cost of 142 million and will employ 1,300 people.
The last two are the most important, of 150 and 160 MW of power respectively, investments that exceed 425 million euros and with a need of 3,000 workers for its development and execution.
Andaltia plans to start the works in 2013, once the conceptual development of the plant has been completed and it has the relevant administrative authorizations, for which it has the direct collaboration of the Community and the City Council.
In fact, the Ministry has already held meetings with the Ministry of Industry and Red Eléctrica Española, who have shown their interest in the degree of innovation involved, as well as its social and economic benefits.
The firms that are collaborating with Andaltia in the development and subsequent construction of the plant are leading multinationals in the electricity-energy sector. For example, Schneider Electric has more than 110,000 employees worldwide and recorded sales of close to 20 billion euros last year.
Sun Power manufactures the most efficient photovoltaic panels on the market today, while SunTech are the manufacturers with the highest global production of panels in 2010. Finally, Yingli Solar, headquartered in China, is engaged in the manufacture of solar panels, from silicon purification, to the production of photovoltaic cells and assembly of solar modules. (EUROPA PRESS)
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