The Business of Developing Solar Parks
Solar power plants are developed to deliver merchant electricity into the grid as an alternative to other renewable, fossil or nuclear generating stations.
The plant owner is an electricity generator. Most solar power plants today are owned by independent power producers (IPP's), though some are held by investor- or community-owned utilities.
Some of these power producers develop their own portfolio of power plants, but most solar parks are initially designed and constructed by specialist project developers. Typically the developer will plan the project, obtain planning and connection consents, and arrange financing for the capital required. The actual construction work is normally contracted to one or more EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors.
Major milestones in the development of a new photovoltaic power plant are planning consent, grid connection approval, financial close, construction, connection and commissioning. At each stage in the process, the developer will be able to update estimates of the anticipated performance and costs of the plant and the financial returns it should be able to deliver.
Read more about this topic: Photovoltaic Power Stations
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