ACCIONA Inaugurates Solar Garden with 9.55 MWp Capacity

The Monte Alto photovoltaic (PV) installation will generate 14 million kilowatt-hours per annum and distribute 9.55 megawatts peak (MWp) among 753 owners who invested 65 million Euros [US$87 million]. The installation covers a surface area of 51 hectares on agricultural land near the locality of Milagro and contains 889 solar structures, of which 864 are equipped with automated solar tracking. The rest are fixed structures adapted to the relief of the terrain.

In five years the company has developed seven solar gardens in Navarre with a total capacity of 20 MWp, and another two under construction in Castilla-La Mancha. Overall, the company's installed capacity is 23 megawatts (MW), through the approximately 3,000 automated solar monitoring structures, and represents a total investment of 177 million Euros [US$236 million] shared among more than 2,000 owners.

The yield from these installations is somewhere between 8 and 10% and the payback of the investment is estimated at around 10 years. The income generated from the sale of electricity to the grid basically covers financial expenses.

The production of electricity of photovoltaic origin is remunerated at a price equivalent to 575% of the Spanish reference rate (TRM) for the first 25 years and 460% from then on, according to Royal Decree 436/2004, which updates the legal and economic framework for the production of electricity under the Special Regime.

For 2007, 575% of the TRM is equivalent to 0.440381 euros/kWh.