The Minister of Universities, Business and Research of the Region of Murcia, José Ballesta and the director of the solar panel division of the company Würth Solar and president of WS Murcia Anbesol, Patrick Metzger, signed a collaboration agreement on April 4 for the construction of one of the largest photovoltaic solar plants in the world, which this business group proposes in Jumilla and which will double the current power that the Region has.
In this way, this photovoltaic plant will generate enough electricity to supply clean energy to the entire Altiplano region and part of Vega Alta, that is, to the municipalities of Jumilla, Yecla, Abarán and Blanca. This facility, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2014, will be able to supply electricity to more than 100,000 homes and will become one of the largest plants of its kind currently planned in the world, occupying an area of 500 hectares in the Cerrilleras area of the Jumillano municipality.
This photovoltaic solar plant with 287 MWh of installed power stands out because “thanks to R&D&I and economies of scale it will be capable of producing electricity in the ordinary regime, that is, not primed and therefore without the public aid that in the end They ended up paying for the pockets of all Spaniards,” explained counselor José Ballesta.
The plant will be developed in five phases, the first four with a power of 50.4 MW and a slightly higher fifth, 85.4 MW. For the construction of each phase, the company will have an average of 750 workers and a budget of close to 55.44 million euros. Thus, it is estimated that throughout the construction period a total of 2,000 workers will be employed and 277 million euros will be invested, to produce a total of 398,165 MW of energy per year when it is in operation.
Currently, the Region has an installed capacity of photovoltaic solar energy greater than 300 MW of power, which places it at the national leader in energy production of these characteristics. “The construction of this plant would mean doubling the current amount of solar energy that the Region has, which, added to other similar projects such as Lorca Ciudad Solar, would place the Region as the first national power in generating electricity from solar sources,” explained José Ballesta.
The energy policy of the regional Government is aimed at achieving the so-called ’20-20-20′ objective by 2016, four years earlier than Europe, thanks to the measures of the Comprehensive Energy Savings and Efficiency Program of the Region. This objective consists of reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 20 percent and ensuring that 20 percent of the energy used is from renewable sources. “It is a priority to reduce our energy dependence, tend towards self-sufficiency and improve the competitiveness of the Region,” explained the counselor.
Added to these objectives is the environmental purpose. Thus, with the start-up of this clean energy production facility, a total of 120,000 tons of oil equivalent (Toe) will be no longer consumed and emissions of polluting gases into the atmosphere will be reduced by more than 350,000 tons annually.
Along these lines, the counselor explained that “despite the fact that the Region produces a large amount of energy that other communities consume, CO2 emissions per inhabitant in Murcia are 26 percent lower than the national average. This is thanks to the fact that “Dependency on fossil fuels has gradually been reduced to give way to renewable energies, which grew by 14 percent last year.”
This plant, framed in the Industrial and Investment Attraction plans of the Region launched by the regional Government, “arises from the joint work of the Ministry with the business group, which together with the outstanding weather and irradiation conditions of the Region for the production of solar energy and the development of the industrial and research fabric in this sector, have led the German multinational to opt for Murcia over other options,” concluded the counselor.
