Photovoltaics Rovigo Solar project

Rovigo solar farm and central inverter/transformer station

70 MW of for the Veneto

On a foggy November day, SunEdison Italy, its financial partners track record in utility-scale solar plants, using 840 km of cables, 50 km of conduits and more than 6 tons of and local officials inaugurated Europe’s largest solar farm in steel for the metal substructures and the like. Rovigo, Veneto. Hundreds of guests demonstrated the “The polycrystalline panels have been supplied by , , Yingli and Solarfun,” importance of the project as a reference for its initiators, as well says Liborio Nanni, Country Manager at SunEdison Italia. The last modules were shipped by air cargo di- as a means to support local development. rectly from , in order to stay within the deadline. “The Rovigo project is important for several reasons, not only for its size,” Pancho Perez, General Manager t first glance, the solar power plant is an exten- of SunEdison EMEA, points out. According to him, ded blue surface equalling a big inland lake in the solar farm is a reference for a quick and precise Asize. Having realised that the object is just a ve- project realisation, as it took only nine months from ry huge solar park, the passer-by can’t help seeing the the beginning of construction to the interconnection central inverter station, which manages the electricity in November 2010. produced and makes it compatible with the national “This milestone has been made possible with the grid. help of perfect timing for installation work and excel- Today, the Rovigo project is the largest European lent cooperation of the partners,” adds Perez, re­ PV power plant – bigger than the 60 MW solar farm ferring first of all to financial partners MEMC and in Olmedilla, Spain, and the 50 MW project in ­SunEdison. Another key partner was Banco Santander, Strasskirchen, Germany. In the first full year of oper- which contributed to financing and project develop- ation, the system is expected to generate sufficient ment. Further partners joined the project for owner- energy to power more than 17,000 homes and avoid ship: the solar power plant was acquired by First the emission of 41,000 tons of CO2 – which is equi­ ­Reserve through a joint venture with SunEdison. valent to taking 8,000 cars off the roads. Some smaller private funds participated, too. The Rovigo solar farm covers an area of more than SunEdison emphasises that the project has had 850,000 m2, equivalent to 120 football fields. The a significant impact on the local economy as, for ex- 280,000 modules were installed by Isolux Corsan, a ample, around 500 people were involved in its real- large-scale Spanish construction company with a long isation. For maintenance operations, the project will

98 Sun & Wind Energy 1/2011 employ about 100 people. In addition, ­Crediop, Natixis, Société Générale and orders for local companies, restau- Crédit Agricole. rants, bars, hotels and department “Despite the administrative con- stores have given a boost to growth straints, Italy remains a very attractive and employment. These figures are es- market for investors be- pecially interesting against the back- cause of the stable and generous feed- ground of the economic situation in the in-tariff regime and the reliable solar ex- Veneto. posure,” explains Mark Florian, Manag- Originally, the land on which the ing Director of First Reserve energy infra- Rovigo project is situated was intended structure fund. That is exactly the point: to become an enormous logistics plat- Italy is attractive for the megawatt form for northeast Italy. The economic projects although the original intention and financial crisis put paid to those of the “Conto Energia” (Energy Act) was plans. Finally, SunEdison acquired per- to spread a culture of small installations, mission to start its solar project. Carlos a smart grid and energy efficiency. Ac- Domenech, President of SunEdison, says cording to critics, megawatt projects like that the project gave his company the Rovigo leave the local community almost opportunity to show its capabilities in empty-handed if compared to the enor- project financing, engineering, low-cost mous profits for the investors, which are procurement and maintenance services. guaranteed for over 20 years. Especially due to its fast completion, the By contrast, investors, planners and project would have the chance of becom- operators in Rovigo insist that in gener- ing a “standard for future megawatt al, local people support these kinds of projects”. projects, because they offer new chanc- However, some local politicians at es of doing business in Italy, mixing pub- the ceremony emphasised the impor- lic and private initiative for reciprocal tance of rules for the regulation of such benefit. Furthermore, defenders of the mega solar power projects: Giuliana law argue that Conto Energia can be an ­Gulmanelli, Rovigo Province’s Councillor appropriate means for making Italy more for the Environment, declared that the attractive to international investors. Province is currently defining precise It will be interesting to analyse in the guidelines for an intelligent and rational medium and long term what the real use of the land. economical outcomes for the local com- The soil in the Veneto province is munities are. In addition, we have to ob- very fertile. Thus, with the persistent serve exactly what is going to happen on economic crisis, and also due to climate the Italian energy market. change constraints, many farmers were Many environmental groups think soon convinced to convert their agricul- that for every MW of installed green ener- tural land into sites for solar parks. And gy capacity, the Italian government this is exactly what the province wants should reduce the conventional power to avoid, trying to find a balance be- production accordingly. But this would tween local sustainable development require a National Energy Plan that has and the need for new jobs. been missing in Italy for decades. The key financial indicators are im- At the inauguration ceremony, how­ pressive: First Reserve has acquired ever, guests were in the mood to cele- the solar farm for € 276 million, with brate: SunEdison offered short trips by ­financing made available by several Eu- helicopter for their guests, allowing for ropean banks, such as Banco Santander, great views of the Rovigo project. UniCredit Corporate Banking, Dexia Cristina Barbero

Rovigo solar power plant: a blue surface covering more than 800,000 m2 Photos (2): SunEdison

Sun & Wind Energy 1/2011