Construction of a new 15.4MW solar farm started in January 2008 in Spain. The project has been commissioned by Meinl International Power (MIP), a company dedicated to investing in projects in the energy sector.

The project site is located in the southern province of Almeria and is a photovoltaic solar powered plant. The Almeria Photovoltaic Park will comprise of around 91,000 photovoltaic modules that will cover an expanse of 300,000m2. The power output from the park is expected to be 24 million kWh which will be enough to supply around 6,000 homes with electricity each year. It has also been estimated that the project will cost around € 87 million to develop and construct.

The development consortium is a strong one with proven solar energy experience. It is headed by Alpine Energie Deutschland GmbH, a German subsidiary of the Austrian company Alpine Bau. The project developer is New Energy Invest GmbH, another German company with previous activities in the solar energy field throughout Europe. The project planner and module supplier is Sinosol AG.

It is hoped that the project will be completed by September 2008 which will allow higher feed in tariffs to be applied. All plants that are registered and connected to the power system by September 28, 2008 will fall under a feed in tariff of 41 c/kWh. This rate is then guaranteed for 25 years.

The Almeria Photovoltaic Park is the first venture into photovoltaic solar power by MIP. Thanks to the substantial feed-in remunerations, their long-term guarantees as well as high solar radiation levels the company is also pursuing future projects in Italy and Greece as well as Spain.