Georgia agrees to help fund 1GW solar PV plant

Cleantechnica

Ergon Solair has moved a step closer to the construction of a 1 GW (1,000 MW) photovoltaic solar power plant in the country of Georgia.

The company has secured government support to help fund the $1.5 billion project. That is a tremendously large project, and the cost per watt of installed capacity is an impressive $1.50 per watt!

Could this be because of the large scale of the project? (Larger solar systems tend to cost less per watt of capacity.) $1.50 per watt is really getting down there. Residential rooftop installations (in the US) can cost over 4 times more.

Ergon Solair LLP is an American-Taiwanese partnership. This plan would employ local photovoltaic equipment assembly facilities, and it would be interconnected in Europe via the Black Sea underwater High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line.

Georgia’s Ministry of Energy confirmed that one of their priorities is the utilization of the country’s solar energy potential. Ergon Solair is of course grateful.

“We are very grateful for the support we have received from the Deputy Minister of Energy Ilia Eloshvili during the preliminary studies of our project and for the support to our project expressed by the Minister of Energy Kakha Kalazde during our meeting of May 22,” Lorenzo L. Colacicchi, the authorized representative of Ergon Solair said.

“We look forward to finalizing this development and implementing this project in Georgia, as it will have very positive impact on regional sustainability, stimulate growth of the Eurasian green economy sector and create numerous job opportunities.”

This story was first published on Cleantechnica. Reproduced with permission.