Portugal Makes Major Leap in Renewables
In the last week, the country has announced nearly $11 billion in funding for renewable energy and opened the world's largest solar power plant, positioning it as Europe's green energy leader.
With the opening yesterday of the world's largest solar power plant, Portugal showed that it is ideally located to become Europe's leading renewable energy producer.
The facility, located on 150 hillside acres of Serpa, about 120 miles outside of Lisbon, will generate 11 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 8,000 homes, according to Portuguese officials.
"This is the most productive solar plant in the world, it will produce 40 percent more energy than the second largest one, Gut Erlasse in Germany," Howard Wenger of PowerLight, one of the partners in the project, told the Associated Press.
The solar power facility is just one of many renewable energy projects slated for development in the coming years. Portugal's Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, has planned to increase the country's reliance on renewables to 45 percent of its total energy use, up from 36 percent when Socrates took power in 2005.
The country has put big money up to back the goal: last week, Portugal's assistant secretary of state, Antonio Castro Guerra, announced a plan to invest EUR 8.1 billion ($10.8 billion) in renewable energy projects around the country.
Situated on the sunny southern coast of the continent, Portugal can harness solar, wind and wave power to generate clean, renewable energy. In addition, the country expects to use biofuels in as much as 10 percent of the country's fuel supply by 2010. The European Union's current target date to reach that goal is 2020.
The facility, located on 150 hillside acres of Serpa, about 120 miles outside of Lisbon, will generate 11 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 8,000 homes, according to Portuguese officials.
"This is the most productive solar plant in the world, it will produce 40 percent more energy than the second largest one, Gut Erlasse in Germany," Howard Wenger of PowerLight, one of the partners in the project, told the Associated Press.
The solar power facility is just one of many renewable energy projects slated for development in the coming years. Portugal's Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, has planned to increase the country's reliance on renewables to 45 percent of its total energy use, up from 36 percent when Socrates took power in 2005.
The country has put big money up to back the goal: last week, Portugal's assistant secretary of state, Antonio Castro Guerra, announced a plan to invest EUR 8.1 billion ($10.8 billion) in renewable energy projects around the country.
Situated on the sunny southern coast of the continent, Portugal can harness solar, wind and wave power to generate clean, renewable energy. In addition, the country expects to use biofuels in as much as 10 percent of the country's fuel supply by 2010. The European Union's current target date to reach that goal is 2020.
