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ELECTRICITY giant Iberdrola is extending its presence in the southern hemisphere, with its first-ever hybrid 'green' energy plant in the world.
The Spanish corporation has just opened a solar and wind plant in Port Augusta, South Australia, providing 317 megawatts (mW) of total power, of which 210mW comes from the wind farm side.
Around a quarter of a million solar panels and 50 wind generators have been installed at a cost of AU$500 million (about €318.7m), capable of supplying power to the equivalent of 180,000 Australian homes.
By replacing fossil fuel sources for this amount of energy, Iberdrola will have prevented up to 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The Port Augusta plant contributes towards South Australia's ambitious climate and energy objective – that of operating on 100% renewable sources by the year 2030.
Building the plant created 200 temporary jobs, in Spain as well as Australia, and the Spanish electricity infrastructure corporation Elecnor constructed the substation and supply lines, storage areas and access roads.
Other firms involved were Vestas, which manufactured and fitted the windmills – each one of 42mW capacity – Longi, which built and installed the solar panels, and Sterling&Wilson which constructed the plant itself.
Iberdrola says its decision to invest in Australia is due to its being a 'strongly-growing market' in renewable energy, and one which is undergoing a 'profound transformation' in its quest to switch from a centralised fossil-fuel generation system, powered by coal and gas, to a decentralised 'clean' energy system, using solar and wind power.
In total, the Spanish power board plans to invest between €2 billion and €3bn in Oceania's largest country.
These will be linked to the Avonlie solar park in south-western New South Wales, the Flyers' Creek wind farm in central New South Wales, and the new 'hybrid' plant in Port Augusta.
The latter is the biggest in the southern hemisphere, and the first to be created by Iberdrola.
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