The renewable energy sector has continued to grow in leaps and bounds over the last decade. More countries and businesses have embraced it and more are expected to fully move to renewable energy by 2025. This piece takes a look at some of the biggest renewable projects from around the world.
ACWA Concentrated Solar Power project Ouarzazate, Morocco
The project is made up of a solar field, a power block and a thermal energy storage system. It generates 160 MW of electricity with 3 hours of storage. At the time of its initiation, it was the first of its kind in North Africa. The location of the project in a desert area posed serious threats but with proper planning and risk advisory service, the bio mass project was pulled off.
Gas Recuperation Plant Puente Hills in Whittier, California
This is the world largest landfill gas plant and it is only fitting that it is located at the top of the Puente Hills landfill which is the largest in the USA. Production at this plant averages about 50 megawatts and it is far from its peak as the landfill has continued to grow. There is now a replica of this landfill gas plant in Incheon South Korea. We are still waiting for the first unit to top the 50 megawatts capacity.
Three Gorges Dam in China
This is the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. It is the first in the world to produce 18 gigawatts of electricity. That is as much energy as 18 nuclear power plants put together. It only takes one of the dam’s main generators to produce 700 megawatts of electricity. The entire construction process for this dam cost $26 billion.
The first commercial wave power plant
Located near Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal, this is the first and only commercial wave power plant in the world today. The plant is shaped in the form of an 11 foot wide and 500 foot long snake floating half submerged on the surface of the sea. The units are anchored perpendicular to the beach and there are four segments connected in line by hinges housing independent hydraulic power plants. The upwards and downwards surging of each of the segments following the crest of an oncoming wave sees the production of 0.75 megawatt of electricity per unit. The three unites produce 2.25 megawatts of electricity and were constructed at a total cost of $13 million. Plans are in place to make this plant a 21 megawatts production farm.
Tidal Barrage in Bretagne, France
Most of the pioneering renewable projects in the world have been around for a while and this one isn’t any different. It was completed in 1967 and cost $134 million. It is the first power plant in the world to produce electricity from tides and it remains the largest till date. The tidal barrage works by blocking the entrance into the estuary of the Rance River. 24 10-megawatt bulb turbines sitting in the barrage beneath the surface can be turned by the water as it flows in and out of the estuary. This ensures the dam produces electricity almost continuously.
Combined heat and power plant in Lisahally
This £80million plant in Belfast is due for completion this 2015. The project will get most of its fuel from waste wood supplies. The project is expected to provide power for 25,000 homes and this is perhaps why it was able to get £20million in funding from the UK Government’s Green Investment Bank.
These are some of the ground-breaking renewable projects as can be found around the world today.
