Bifacial solar power plants are becoming an increasingly common choice for investors due to their ability to collect the sunlight that bounce off the substrate and produce electricity more efficiently than power plants with monofacial panels.
The company MT-Komex was entrusted with the construction of the first bifacial solar power plant in Serbia, which will also be the largest solar power plant in the country at the moment.
The power plant will be located on the Toyo Tires company’s property. The construction contract was signed between the deputy general manager of Toyo Tires, Kenichiro Takasago, and the director of the MT-Komex, Miloš Kostić.
“The global goal of Toyo Tires is to become carbon neutral, and investing in renewable energy sources is the best choice. This is the right moment for us to build a solar power plant in Serbia because the laws regarding renewable energy have changed so that we can acquire the status of a prosumer. On the other hand, we have a large area of land at our disposal,” said Takasago for Energy Portal.
He adds that the solar plant will cover 10 to 15 per cent of Toyo Tires’ annual electricity needs, proving that the tire industry consumes a lot of electricity and is therefore under tremendous pressure to decarbonize as soon as possible.
Takasago announces that tire production will begin at the end of July, while the complete production equipment and the solar power plant will be in operation by the end of the year.
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“We are planning to have a ceremonial opening of our solar power plant, which will be visited by people from the Government, other countries, even from Japan. This will be a really significant event both for MT-Komex, who built it and for us,” says Takasago.
When it comes to choosing a contractor, Takasago notes that they were looking for a company that would be their partner and help them make decisions about the construction of the power plant, and they found it all in MT-Komex.
“We are extremely honored that such a serious company as Toyo Tires entrusted us with the construction of the largest solar power plant on the ground, which has the power of 8.4 MW, i.e. active connection power of 7.2 MW. Our company, with 13 years of experience in the development, design and construction of solar power plants, managed to win this job at the tender as the most serious bidder,” said MT-Komex director Miloš Kostić.
He adds that in addition to Toyo Tires, MT-Komex is building solar power plants both on roofs of production halls and on the ground.
“Our team consists of 30 engineers/experts for renewable energy sources and 50 installers/electric fitters specially trained for the construction of solar power plants with many years of experience,” says Kostić.
Solar panels on 8.2 hectares
Toyo Tires’ solar power plant will be located on the ground and will cover 8.2 hectares. The annual electricity production will amount to 10,148,927 kWh, which will save 8,119,141 kg of carbon dioxide annually.
MT-Komex decided to use a special construction that will allow bifacial solar panels to produce electricity 15 per cent more efficiently compared to classic, monofacial power plants.
The plan for this power plant is to acquire the status of buyer-producer, that is, to use green electricity for its own needs, while all excess will be handed over to the electricity distribution network.
The solar power plant construction will be completed by the end of this year when it will be put into operation.
Milena Maglovski
