Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plants: A Project Developer’s Guide
This publication aims to help building capacity amongst key stakeholders, as solar power continues to become a more important contributor to meet the energy needs in emerging economies.
The objective of this guidebook is to enhance the reader’s understanding of how to successfully develop, finance, construct, and operate utility-scale solar PV power plants. It is aimed at project developers entering the market, and meant as a reference source for contractors, investors, government decision makers, and other stakeholders working on PV projects in emerging markets. This report is a substantially expanded version (second edition) of an earlier IFC publication, “Utility-Scale Solar Power Plants,” which was released in 2011. Substantial progress in the number of PV projects implemented globally and dramatic reduction in PV technology prices justified the need for an update in this fast moving market.
The guidebook focuses on aspects of project development that are specific to solar. From this perspective it covers all aspects of the overall project development process including site identification, plant design, energy yield, permits/licenses, contractual arrangements, and financing, giving sparser coverage to general project development basics that are not specific to solar.
