Serbia to have world's largest solar park

Belgrade, May 9 (IANS) The Serbian government has signed a memorandum to build the world's largest solar park in the southeast European nation at an estimated cost of two billion euros (over $2.5 billion), Xinhua reported quoting the country's Tanjug news agency.

The proposed solar park, spread over 3,000 hectares of land, would have an estimated capacity of 1,000 MWp (Mega Watt-peak).

Serbian Minister for Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic signed an agreement with the managing staff of Luxembourg-based Securum Equity Partners Europe Tuesday in a ceremony attended by Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic.

According to the minister, the park's construction could take up to five years and would involve about 3,000 workers to build it.

Serbia has agreed to lease the land free of charge to Securum, but expects to generate 750 million euros in taxation from the solar park, Dulic added.

An official of the company said the solar park's construction could start as early as the beginning of next year, once a final location for the solar park is found.

The company chose to build the solar park in Serbia because it receives about 40 percent more solar radiation than other parts of southeast Europe and since it has an industrial tradition with a highly skilled labour force, the official added.