ContourGlobal, a British power generation company, has announced that its “major” upgrades to its Italian solar PV installations are underway.
The company adds that the project has spun up over 20 active construction sites employing over 100 workers.
Through the project, ContourGlobal focuses on “revamping and repowering” 35 out of its 71 PV plants in Italy – giving the modernised plants a 43% increase in installed capacity.
Improvements
With land use for solar farms being a hot topic in Italy, the company explains that these upgrades will enhance the modules without taking up extra land. Additional benefits include taking advantage of the increased power density of the more recent modules installed in the local area, and Italy’s grid hosting capacity.
To improve the sustainability of the process, end-of-life modules are processed to recover 97% of their precious materials such as copper, silver, aluminium, glass, and crystalline silicon.
Modern single-axis trackers will replace the old steel ground mounts, and the old inverters are also subject to upgrades.
ContourGlobal’s aim is that the results speak for themselves, predicting a boost to the company’s total solar capacity in the country to 113MW.
Once all 71 plants have their capacities upgraded, the company’s solar power supply will be able to power over 70,000 homes in Italy over 12 months.
The future
The ambitious project is supported by an increased version of its €202m infrastructure financing, which the company explains won “Refinance Deal of the Year” by Infrastructure Journal. Total commitments can now be uplifted to €264m.
Appetite and enthusiasm for the project are leading ContourGlobal to explore more options for integrating energy storage at some of its solar sites – intending to harness renewables’ full potential through this hybrid approach of batteries and generation plants.
[Image: Ferrante PV plant, Palermo, Italy. Image Credit: ContourGlobal]
