French manufacturer Soitec has announced the completion and grid connection of the largest concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar power plant in Italy.
Located in the Belpasso municipality in Sicily’s Catania province, the 1.17 MW-peak (MWp) facility is now ready to generate clean, reliable electricity for the local power grid.
The utility-scale plant will generate enough electricity to supply approximately 300 homes each year and is expected to offset more than 125 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Soitec, which generates and manufactures semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, said the facility would supply the grid for decades to come and paves the way for other CPV plants to be developed in Italy.
Fully owned and operated by Soitec, the new solar plant will supply electricity to Enel, Italy's largest power company. Local Italian construction companies provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the solar power plant, while efficient central-inverter technology was provided by Schneider Electric.
CPV is the most attractive solar technology in high solar resource regions around the globe, the company said.
Gaetan Borgers, executive vice president of Soitec's Solar Energy division, said: "Completing this solar power plant marks a major milestone for Soitec in Italy while also demonstrating all of CPV's advantages in this part of the world. This project has allowed us to show that CPV's leading efficiency and ability to provide a steady, long-term energy supply without consuming excessive amounts of land and water make it exactly the right technology for Italy.
“We are uniquely positioned with a cost-effective power generation technology at high levels of efficiency and committed to developing this market in Italy."
Headquartered in Bernin, France, Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centres in France, Singapore, Germany, and the United States.
