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Dublin-based energy developer WElink
Energy has signed a contract with China
Triumph International Engineering Co Ltd
(CTIEC) for the construction of a 220MW
solar farm in Portugal.
The Solara4 solar project is said to be
the largest privately funded solar farm
in Europe, and is the first in WElink’s series
of planned investments in Portugal. The
project will cover 800 hectares of land in
Vaqueiros, in the Algarve, and is expected
to be generating electricity by the middle
of 2018.
Portugal’s economy minister, Manuel
Caldeira Cabral, remarked during the
signing ceremony: “Consumers have in the
past paid higher prices for the promotion of
renewable energy. We do not want to stop
the progress that renewable energy can
have, but fortunately the technology has
evolved, and evolved in a way that solar
energy can now be competitive, paying
the investment with unsubsidized tariffs.”
Leoni has begun the construction phase of
its “Factory of the Future” project in Roth,
Germany. The plant is intended to underpin
Leoni’s core business in the cable sector
and lay the foundations for use of digital
technologies and the strategic expansion
of its solutions business. The company plans
to invest €90 million in the facility, focusing
production on cables for the car industry
and the development and production of
data cables for autonomous driving.
With a planned output of about 400,000km
of cable per year, the new facility’s
products will range from glass fiber cables
for telecommunications and infrastructure,
through to high voltage and charging
cables for cars with alternative drive
systems. In addition to the laboratory and
development center, the site will offer
an educational and advanced training
facility.
Based on an estimated construction
period of about two years, Leoni expects
to begin relocation from the existing plant
in early 2019. The relocation of around 800
employees to the new factory is likely to be
completed in mid-2020.
Private funding to further
development
New plant for specialist
cables
Image: Leoni AG
Economy minister
Manuel Caldeira Cabral
wiredInUSA - May 2017
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