Large-scale photovoltaic plant
Tuesday, 28 July, 2009
Inverter technology for renewable energy applications
Inverter technology being introduced to Australasia by industrial drives manufacturer Bonfiglioli has been selected for use at one of the world's biggest photovoltaic energy installations.
Bonfiglioli Riduttori has supplied a total of 475 inverters for the installation in Puertoallano, Spain, which covers an area the size of 185 football pitches, or 118 hectares.
The inverters will be used to transform the DC power produced by 350,000 photovoltaic panels into alternating current. Under ideal climatic conditions, the plant generates 46 MW of energy for the Spanish state electrical power company, Endesa.
The contract is part of a major drive by Bonfiglioli technology into renewable power applications, including photovoltaic, wind, biomass and thermal power technologies highly suited to Australasia, said Bonfiglioli Australasian Managing Director Mr Malcolm Lewis.
“Bonfiglioli's earnings from renewable energy applications currently account for about a sixth of its turnover, or about 100 million euros a year (nearly AU$200 million). We are already developing strong interest in renewable power applications in Australasia, including helical/planetary combination drives for wind power applications,” he said.
Bonfiglioli internationally will also supply inverters for a second installation in the central Iberian Peninsula, this one a 69 MW thermodynamic solar energy plant adjacent to the first installation.
The construction of new green energy installations has also been recently announced in Italy. These latest plants will be built by the Spanish Renovalia group with Bonfiglioli again supplying the inverters. A total of seven sites will be built to generate electricity using photovoltaic technology. Work on the first, in Bianco, Calabria, is due to begin in about 2 months. The locations chosen for the new plants are in Gravina (18.52 MW), Irsilia (30 MW), Sicily (8.60 MW), Rome (40.48 MW), Bianco (15.86 MW), Tarquinia (10.57 MW) and Nardo (18.57 MW).
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