Czech solar power plants post record output in sunny spring
By Prague Daily Monitor, 9 May 2007
This story is from the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
http://launch.praguemonitor.com/en/80/czech_business/6126/
Prague, May 8 (CTK) – Solar power plants in the Czech Republic generated a record amount of electricity thanks to the sunny weather in the first two months of spring this year, CTK has learned from their operators. The country’s largest solar power plant, in Busanovice, south-western Bohemia, generated double the planned amount of electricity in April.
“The amount of solar energy in April this year was equal to the usual amount for April and May combined,” said Ales Korostensky, the owner of Korowatt, operating the Busanovice plant. Two weeks ago, Busanovice generated a record 4,820 kilowatthours of power in a single day, twice the average amount. In contrast, last Saturday, when it started to rain at last after a long spell of sunny and dry weather, it produced only 420 kilowatthours (kWh).
The solar power plant in Hradek nad Nisou, northern Bohemia, generated 9.2 megawatthours (MWh) of electricity in April, while 6 MWh had been planned. The solar power plant operated by HiTechMedia Systems of Uherske Hradiste, southern Moravia, generated 9,437 kWh of electricity in April, 70 percent more than planned. The solar power plants’ contribution to overall production of electricity in the country will gradually rise, as new ones are being built.
However, the share has been negligible so far. The combined capacity of the solar power plants in the Czech Republic is around 1 MW. The Temelin nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia has a capacity of 2,000 MW. The world’s largest solar power plant in Wuerzburg, Germany has a capacity of 12 MW.
Experts say conditions for the production of electricity in solar power plants are good in the Czech Republic, where the sun shines for 1,400 to 1,700 hours a year, translating into an average 1,100 kWh per square metre. The Czech Republic has pledged to the EU to produce 8 percent of electricity from renewable sources by the year 2010, double the current amount.