A "Huerta Solar" is the Spanish term for solar farm and is a grid-connected solar power plant based on several subsystems, each with their own investor.
More than 125 MW of "Huerta Solar" PV plants
Edwin Koot | www.SolarPlaza.com
| A "Huerta Solar" is the Spanish term for solar farm and is a grid-connected solar power plant based on several subsystems, each with their own investor. |
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More than 125 MW of "Huerta Solar" PV plants have already been contracted in Spain |
| By: Edwin Koot, Director www.SolarPlaza.com |
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The "Huerta Solar" represents by far the most important solar energy market segment in Spain. Many more new initiatives are under development which will further strengthen Spanish market growth. A "Huerta Solar" is the Spanish term for solar farm and is a grid-connected solar power plant based on several subsystems, each with their own investor. These subsystems are usually ground-based one or two axis tracking devices that generate up to 40% more energy than fixed systems. The electricity is sold to the energy utility company for the attractive feed-in tariff guaranteed by Spanish law for 25 years. SolarPlaza found more than 45 initiatives totalling more than 125 MW of contracted solar farm' projects for the years 2006-2008 during a brief market survey. This figure is considered to be modest since many projects currently being prepared have not resulted in any publicity as yet. It is safe to say that just in 2006 more than 27 MW of PV power plants will be built. This figure, however, could easily be much higher or even double. For 2007 at least 50 MW has already been contracted.
Larger and larger projects The turnkey system prices of the surveyed Huerta Solar (sub)systems range from € 4.80/Wp to € 8.40/Wp. The turnkey cost of tracking PV systems in these Huerta Solar projects (usually at least 5 kWp per system) are above the € 7.70 per watt mark. Spain's sunny regions such as Murcia and Andalusia are becoming more and more popular for the development of these solar farms because the same system will produce more kWh and hence will generate more euros per year. A new 14 MW project initiative was announced for this region on 10 July. The largest systems, however, are being planned for Tenerife, the Canary Island with the best irradiation. ITER is planning a 25 MW project following their 15 MW project, which was sold out to investors in less than a few month.
Returns offered to investors are still good and lie around 8-10% per year. The feed-in tariff guarantee for 25 years makes the investment absolutely interesting compared to savings in a bank account. Spanish banks have discovered the PV market as a segment for attractive project financing and investors benefit by financing up to 80% of the solar investment. The Spanish economy is doing very well and many Spaniards have made good money with property investments. The Huerta Solar is a new and convenient way to invest and make money and is, therefore, becoming increasingly popular. New product trends
Silicon shortages on the global market have lead to growing
attention for thin film modules and concentrator PV systems. Since
the cost of land is not the major issue in the development of a
Huerta Solar, already one initiative has lead to the application of
thin film modules in a project of 1.4 MW. Phönix SonnenStrom won the
order to plan and construct the PV plant for TSK, a Spanish company
in Gijón.
With the expected slight decrease of the German market, a stronger push of the major international PV companies to enter the Spanish market can be observed. The larger companies have taken over (SAG TauSolar), started joint ventures with Spanish companies or set up new subsidiaries (Phönix Sonnenstrom AG, Voltwerk). There is even one company that is building a new factory in Spain (Aleo Solar). The Chinese PV manufacturers have also found their way into Spain. Recently, Suntech Power signed a distribution agreement with the Spanish company Ibersolar. As well as the international attention, domestic larger companies have been attracted by the profitable PV market. The largest Spanish energy utility company, Iberdrola, and its engineering subsidiary, Iberinco, will build one of Europe's largest roof-mounted PV systems (3 MW) on Telefónica's new operations headquarters in Madrid as well as several solar farms and has set a target of 10 MW to be built by 2006. To conclude, many new and young companies have started solar farm initiatives. Although they sometimes are relatively small, their first directly profitable MW Huerta Solar project may bring them the resources they need to boost further growth. Let us not forget the Germany example where several of the once smaller players have grown out to become the global players we see today...
Many of the involved and abovementioned companies will give a presentation and explain more about the experiences related to developing and building solar farms in Spain and some projects will be visited during the PV Business Tour Spain 2006. The tour programme is, therefore, ideal for companies to meet the major Spanish PV companies and to learn more about the Spanish market developments for possible implementation in other countries. More information about this tour can be found on www.solarplaza.com.
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The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AltEnergyMag
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