Feb 19, 02, 2013 - Neoenergia and Odebrecht Energia began the deployment of the solar power plant at the Arena Pernambuco soccer stadium, a project that is part of the Research and Development (R&D) program of the three distributors of the Neoenergia Group; Celpe (state of Pernambuco), Coelba (state of Bahia) and Cosern (state of Rio Grande do Norte). With 1MWp of installed capacity, equivalent to the average consumption of 6000 Brazilians, the solar plant will cost about 10 million Brazilian Reals, being 9 million Brazilian Reals invested by Neoenergia, through the R&D stategy project of Aneel, and 1.2 million Brazilian Reals invested by Odebrecht Energia, with completion scheduled for June 2013.
Located in an area of 14.5 thousand square meters, within the Arena area, the installation of the solar plant is part of the Strategic Project for Research and Development - "Technical and Commercial Arrangements for Insertion of Solar Photovoltaic Generation in the Brazilian Energy Matrix" launched in August 2011 by the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL). Besides the plant, the project includes other research and development investments totaling 24.5 million Brazilian Reals.
The photovoltaic solar panels, which make part of the system, capture the light emitted by the sun and transform it into electricity with the aid of an inverter to convert the energy traditionally used in industries and homes. At this point, the produced energy is able to be delivered to the electrical system of the stadium or the conventional distribution network. Besides the usage of a renewable energy source, solar generation systems reduce transmission and distribution line losses, since energy is consumed at the place where it is produced.
The deployment and operation of the plant will not result in additional costs to the stadium, being built by Odebrecht Infrastructure. The plant costs are being borne solely by the participating companies of the solar plant. All energy generated will be destined to the Arena Pernambuco stadium.
The executive design and installation of the solar photovoltaic power plant will be under the responsibility of Gehrlicher Solar Ecoluz do Brasil, a joint-venture between the Brazilian Ecoluz Participations and the German Gehrlicher Solar AG.
To develop the basic design of the plant, the Institute of Solar Energy of the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the Institute of Electrical and Energy of the University of São Paulo (USP) were hired in addition to the American National Renewable Energy Laboratory – NREL.