World’s largest solar power plant launched in Spain

The facility, called Planta Solar de Salamanca, consists of 70,000 modules on a site of 36 hectares. It produces 13.8 megawatts of energy, enough to meet the needs of 5,000 houses, but the company plans to gradually increase the output to 25 MW. The plant breaks the record of a power plant in Bavaria, Germany, with a capacity of 12 MW. It will help save 3,800 metric tons (27,930 bbl) of oil a year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 6,100 metric tons. “It is evident that, together with wind power, the sun is the only alternative source of energy that will allow Spain to reduce its dependence on the import of oil,” company president Carlos Galdon said. The project was carried out in conjunction with Kyocera Corporation, a leading Japanese producer of solar modules.

One means of reducing carbon emissions and halting global warming is to develop renewable energy sources, such as sunlight, water, wind, tides and geothermal heat. However, despite the fact that these sources do not harm the environment, the use of alternative energies is rare. Hydropower accounts for 2-3% of the global energy output and other forms of alternative energy account for less than 1%. (rian.ru)