Brazil Announces Huge 350 MW Floating Solar Power Plant
Brazil Announces Huge 350 MW Floating Solar Power Plant
April 6th, 2015 by Anand Upadhyay
Brazil’s energy ministry has ranked the country’s various sources of energy as per their abundance, cheapness, renewability, and availability of the necessary technology. Among the available options, hydropower comes top, followed by wind power and biomass (mostly bagasse).
However the country has been reeling under its worst drought in 80 years. The Cantareira reservoir system, which serves more than nine million people in the state, is only 5% full. At the Alto Tietê reservoir network, which supplies three million people in greater Sao Paulo (South America’s largest city), water levels are below 15%.
A number of cities have taken to water rationing. With the reservoir levels falling too low to generate electricity, energy crises could be next in line due to the country’s dependence on hydropower on which it relies for up to 80% of its energy.
For sometime now, Brazil has been warming up to solar energy. Last year, Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), concluded its first exclusive solar power auction, providing 20-year PPAs to companies that will invest over $1.66 billion in 1,048 MW of solar power spread over 31 solar parks. Power production is expected to start by 2017. The country has now decided to further push solar energy.
More:
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/04/06/brazil-announces-huge-350-mw-floating-solar-power-plant/
Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112783527
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We are going to be left behind if we do not start doing the same thing .Unfortunately, our oil lobby has a firm grip on the politicians.
This is frustrating. We have more than enough resources to make it happen. The area required fits into existing deserts like the nevada desert.
As a matter of fact, the challenge would not be the solar panels, it would be tying it into the energy grid and upgrading the power lines to extract all of that and distribute. Alternate approaches have been considered where, instead of a mega installation you sprinkle smaller ones across the country somewhat relaxing the constraints on the power grid.
