MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is going to invest up to $147 million in eco-friendly solar energy grids in the country’s southern Altai region close to Kazakhstan, according to the state-run Avelar construction firm.
Avelar has struck a deal with another state-owned company, Khevel, and the local government in Altai to build enough solar and hybrid power plants by 2018 to sell the generated green energy on the market.
“Under the agreement, we are to construct solar power plants in the Altai republic with the total energy generation capacity up to 45mw to supply the Wholesale Electric Energy and Power Market,” Avelar said in its statement Friday.
The green energy firm is also to build autonomous solar-powered diesel stations with a total generation of 200kw capacity in remote areas of the region, where the landscape varies from rolling grasslands and foothills to steep Altai Mountains.
Avelar has already launched a project to build a 5mw solar power grid in Altai’s Kosh-Agach area, one of the sunniest places in Russia with solar activity comparable to that in southern Italy. It will be the region’s first solar power plant, and hopes are it will help Altai to quench its energy thirst.
