On 03.12.2010 the partnership between HydroEnergy Company Ltd. (Bulgaria) and Norsk Solkraft AS (Norway) held the opening ceremony of Solarpark PRIPECHENE. Her Excellency Mrs Tove Skarstein, the Norwegian Ambassador to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Minister of EU Funds Tomislav Donchev were present among the guests to inaugurate the photovoltaic installation.
13/12/2010
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The event took place at the solarpark venue on the way to the village of General Todorov, Petrich Municipality, Bulgaria. The installation is constructed on an area of 18'600 sq.m. and has total installed capacity of 827.2 kWp. The installation is composed of 3’520 Yingli modules and 2 SMA 630H invertors. The expected annual energy production of the park is 1'100 MWh.
The project has been realised at a time where there is big demand for energy from alternative sources due, among others, to environmental issues. Upon its accession to the European Union, Bulgaria has taken the responsibility and commitment to converge with the social, economical, and political standards with the one predominant within the Community. Providing the appropriate infrastructure and creating relevant incentive mechanisms for production of energy from renewable energy sources (RES) and reach an indicative 11% RES electricity share in the gross internal electricity consumption until 2010 is one such pre-accession commitment of the country. In the past years, Bulgaria has lead a coherent policy to fulfil its commitment and implement Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market.
The project is the first of its kind in the region and has provided with opportunities to involve innovative technology, business concept and know-how transfer. It has also created employment opportunities in the construction phase and now during the operation phase in a rural region with high unemployment rate and low income in comparison with national average. More details on the project are available at www.PartnerTheSun.com.