Crimean "Perovo" is the 4th power plant in the world.

Perovo is a solar power plant with a total capacity of 105.56 megawatts (MW) near the village of Klyuchi of the Perovsky village council in Crimea.
Thus, according to this indicator, it surpassed the Sarnia solar park in Canada (97.5 MW) and can be called the world's largest solar power plant.

The power plant consists of 440,000 crystalline solar photovoltaic modules connected by 1,500 km of cable and installed on over 200 hectares (covering approximately 259 football fields). The plant can produce 132,500 MWh of clean electricity per year, enough to meet the planned peak demand for electricity in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea. The station allows to reduce CO2 emissions by 105,000 tons per year. Built by the Austrian company Activ Solar.

Solar power plants built by Activ Solar on the Crimean peninsula, these are the stations "Rodnikovoe", "Okhotnikovo", "Perovo" and "Mityaevo", now reach 215 MW of capacity (the republic's need for electricity is about 1200 MW).
At the same time, the Okhotnikovo power plant (Saki district, peak power - 80 MW) entered the top five largest in the world and was considered the largest in Central and Eastern Europe.

But this is not the first station that was built in the Crimea in the city of Shchelkino, a tower-type solar power plant was built as a backup source of electricity for the nuclear power plant planned there. But by and large, this station was experimental: its capacity is 5 MW. During the operation of this station, many difficulties were identified. One of them - the reflector positioning system almost completely (95%) consumed the energy generated by the station. There were also difficulties with cleaning the mirrors. Soon this station ceased to exist and was plundered.

The project of the first in the USSR Crimean SES (solar power plant) was created in the early 80s in the Riga branch of the Atomteploelektroproekt Institute with the participation of thirteen other design organizations of the USSR Ministry of Energy and Electrification. Scientific leadership was carried out by the G.M. Krzhizhanovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

SES-5 was conceived as an experimental station, the main purpose of which is to find out the features of the operation of specific equipment used in the operation of the power plant, to gain experience in operating all systems of the station, to identify shortcomings in the circuit and individual elements of equipment and to be able to reconstruct imperfect systems in the process of mastering SES-5 .

The tower-type design concept applied in SES-5 was first put forward by the Institute. G.M. Krzhizhanovsky back in the 50s.

The design of SES-5 consisted of a concentrator - a field of solar heliostats, a solar steam generator, a turbine, a generator, an automatic tracking system for the Sun and a thermal storage system.

SPP tower after completion of construction

In the center of a large field, 500 meters in diameter, there was a tower 89 meters high, in the upper part of which there was a steam boiler. The tower was surrounded by a field of heliostats - mirror reflectors, each with an area of ​​25 sq.m. Each heliostat, and there were 1600 in total, was equipped with electric drives for zenith and azimuth rotation. The control computer, using electric drives, corrected the position of the heliostats in such a way that at any time all the reflected sunlight was directed strictly at the boiler.

After heating the water in the boiler with the help of mirrors that focused solar radiation on it, the steam from the boiler was fed to the turbine, which rotated the generator rotor. So solar energy turned into electrical energy. The turbine and generator were on the ground, in a special room. Another part of the power plant was a heat accumulator, consisting of two tanks for a high-temperature steam-water mixture, each with a volume of 1000 cubic meters. In case of bad weather, when the Sun is hidden behind clouds or at night, it was able to ensure the operation of the station at standard power for 3-4 hours, plus about 10 more hours in reduced power mode (approximately 50%).
The design capacity of the station was 5 MW. The first Soviet nuclear power plant had the same capacity.

For reference. The total installed capacity of all solar power plants in the world at that time was 21 MW.

The first trial connection of the SES-5 station generator to the network took place in September 1985. At that moment, 420 heliostats were operating.

The station was fully commissioned in 1986. The total cost of construction of SES-5 amounted to about 29 million rubles.

In the time before the shutdown in the early 90s, the solar power plant generated about 2 million kWh of electricity.

Already after the start of operation of SES-5, the Ministry of Energy developed a project for the construction of a combined industrial solar-fuel power plant with a capacity of 320 MW. The place for it was chosen in Uzbekistan, in the Karshi steppe, near the city of Talimarjan. Such a power plant turned out to be much more economical than conventional thermal power plants.

Ecological cleanliness of electricity production is especially important for preserving the ecology of the Crimean resorts.

Activ Solar is an international group of companies headquartered in Vienna (Austria), specializing in the development and production of solar technologies.

Kave Ertefay, CEO of the Austrian company Activ Solar, has been implementing large-scale projects for the construction of solar power plants in southern Ukraine since 2010. Offices of the Activ Solar company work in Kyiv, Odessa, Simferopol.

Activ Solar is the owner of a subsidiary of PrJSC Semiconductor Plant in Zaporozhye, where the basic raw material for photovoltaic energy and the semiconductor industry is produced - polycrystalline silicon, from which solar modules are created.

At the beginning of 2012, the Austrian company Activ Solar completed the construction of a solar power plant in the village Rodnikovoe (Crimea), its capacity is 7.5 MW.

The largest solar power plant with a total capacity of up to 100 MW was built in Perovo village (Crimea). The new solar power plant outperformed the Sarnia solar park in Canada (97.5 MW). The Crimean power plant consists of 440,000 crystalline solar photovoltaic (PV) modules installed on an area equivalent to 259 football fields, which is more than 200 hectares.

The operation of the Perovo solar park will annually produce 132.5 million kWh of environmentally friendly electricity, which corresponds to the maximum load in the power system of Simferopol. Solar power plants are the most environmentally friendly form of energy production, so the operation of a solar power plant will lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 105,000 tons per year.

During the 7 months of construction of the Perovo project, the Austrian company Activ Solar created 800 jobs in Crimea. Components from leading Asian and European manufacturers were used in the construction of the solar station.
In 2011, in October, the Austrian company Activ Solar launched a solar power plant in the village Okhotnikovo (Saksky district, Crimea), with a capacity of 80 megawatts (MW), which is still considered the largest solar photovoltaic installation in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Okhotnikovo solar station is one of the five largest PV power plants in the world and is the 4th photovoltaic park in the world, in terms of installed capacity, after the Sarnia (Canada), Montalto di Castro (Italy) and Finsterwalde (Germany) projects.

The Okhotnikovo power plant covers an area of ​​160 hectares and consists of 360,000 ground photovoltaic (PV) modules. The modules were installed in record time - less than 6 months. Once fully operational, the plant will produce 100,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year. This amount is enough to supply environmentally friendly electricity to more than 20,000 Crimean houses.

According to Activ Solar, the operation of the Okhotnikovo solar park will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80,000 tons per year.

The total capacity of three Crimean solar power plants in Rodnikovoe, Perovo and Okhotnikovo is 187.5 MW. The total demand of the Republic of Crimea for electricity is about 1200 MW.
Austrian company Activ Solar completed the construction of a solar photovoltaic power plant in the village Mityaevo (Saksky district, Crimea), which produces 31.55 megawatts of electricity.

In the village of Mityaevo, a ground-based two-row installation consisting of 134,000 crystalline solar photovoltaic modules connected by 440 km of cable. The Mityayevo solar power plant covers an area of ​​more than 59 hectares and will produce about 40 thousand MW hours of clean electricity per year, which will satisfy the electricity needs of 8,000 homes.

This is the fourth large-scale PV project built by the Austrian company Activ Solar in Crimea. All Activ Solar solar installations operating in Crimea annually reduce CO2 emissions by 230,000 tons.

Activ Solar finances, plans and executes large-scale solar energy projects by bringing together strategic partners, world-class professionals and state-of-the-art technology.

Solar power plants are the most environmentally friendly way to generate energy. It is very important that all the resorts of the Crimean peninsula, just like the resort of Seminyak, be surrounded by ecologically clean nature, this is the main component of the popularity rating of each resort.

According to experts, Crimea can produce six gigawatts of electricity every year from renewable sources. However, the industry, which used to be actively developing, is now barely making ends meet. Investors say that without "green tariffs" it has become economically inexpedient to invest in such projects.

On the peninsula, out of 630 MW of total installed capacity of power plants, almost 500 are renewable energy. But these are long-term implemented projects, but there are no new ones.

The main problem of solar power plants today is low tariffs, says Crimean Fuel and Energy Minister Vadim Belik. - When the "green tariff" was in effect, one kilowatt of electricity generated by them cost 25-30 rubles, today Krymenergo buys electricity from solar stations at an average of 2.07 rubles.

At the end of 2013, we put into operation the only solar station in the region, in 2014 we re-registered the enterprise and then we faced a lot of problems. Today, the station does not pay for itself, - Vladimir Gubanov, director of S.Energy-Sevastopol LLC, confirms the problem.

It is noteworthy that a small solar station itself usually consumes almost five percent of the generated energy. It seems to be not much, but she has to buy electricity at a price twice as expensive as selling the generated electricity: in the summer she supplied her goods to the network at 2.74 rubles per kilowatt-hour, in October - at 3.14, and for her needs she bought 5 .6 rubles. And it is impossible not to buy, because imported transformers and equipment need a certain frequency and direct current, while the station generates electricity only during daylight hours.

The project was an investment - we invested ten million dollars in the construction of the station, - says Gubanov. - It should have paid off in 6-7 years thanks to the "green tariff" (about 18 rubles). Now the tariff is 3.14 rubles, so investments at such prices will return in 30-40 years. So far, at best, we are working to zero. Naturally, there is no need to think about any development in such conditions, we do not buy new equipment, there is only enough money to pay salaries to employees and taxes.

Even a specially installed device for selecting maximum power and matching photovoltaic modules, developed at Sevastopol State University, did not help to make a profit. The device allows in late autumn, winter and early spring, when the stations operate in conditions of partial blackout, to receive 75 percent more electricity than usual at this time. Thanks to this installation, the efficiency of the solar station has increased by 60 percent.

The Department of Renewable Energy Sources, Electrical Systems and Networks was established 15 years ago, when alternative energy was actively developing in the Crimea, - said its head Vladimir Kuvshinov. - Our developments have always been in demand. The latest project we are working on is an offshore wind farm that generates electricity for a desalination plant. I hope it will be useful to investors if renewable energy in Crimea receives a second development. But this will happen if the problem with tariffs is solved. In Europe, for example, there is a tariff of almost 0.5 eurocents per kilowatt-hour (about 35 rubles), so there is a boom in the construction of solar power plants. If we introduced such a tariff, investors would build up all the free space.

Renewable energy in Crimea has good prospects, - member of the presidium says expert council working group of the Federation Council Rashid Artikov. - Indeed, now the sphere is unprofitable for investment due to the lack of "green tariffs", but the working group on ecology under the government of the Russian Federation and the association of green standards are actively working to ensure that they are introduced. And not only for the Crimea, but for the whole of Russia.

By the way

2017 was a real breakthrough in the field of alternative energy. For example, Sungrow has opened the world's largest floating power plant in eastern China, which receives energy from the sun. In May, it was successfully connected to the power grids of the city of Huainan, 800 kilometers south of Beijing. The capacity of the power plant reaches 40 megawatts, which makes it the most powerful facility of its kind in the world. And in May, in Liverpool Bay, near the British Isles, the world's largest offshore wind farm, Burbo Bank, was launched. Its total capacity will exceed 350 megawatts. This will ensure a stable supply of electricity to 230,000 households in Foggy Albion.

Being a region with a southern climate, Crimea is ideal for providing photovoltaic energy - the steppes of the peninsula are illuminated by direct sunlight for most of the year, so the solar power plant here can work as efficiently as possible. In addition, the use of this inexhaustible source of energy is important for the preservation of the local ecology. How common is the use of solar panels in the Crimea and is it worth using them in a private house?

How do solar panels work?

Initially, photovoltaic cells were used only for power supply. orbital station- first "Mir", then the ISS. Today, they are increasingly being introduced into the life of the Crimeans, but they are still a curiosity for many, a futuristic and obscure technology. In fact, there is nothing complicated in their device and principle of operation.

The battery diagram is as follows:

• a panel consisting of many photocells converts photon energy into direct current;
• current passes through the controller and charges the batteries;
• the inverter converts direct current with a voltage of 12 V to the familiar 220 V alternating current;
• From the inverter, electricity is supplied to consumers.

Modern hybrid power plants can additionally connect to the conventional power grid and use its resources if the solar energy is not enough. This system can also work vice versa - connect solar panels when the central energy is turned off. As a rule, such multifunctional devices are used when many consumers are connected to the network, and there are not enough panels at peak load - they are installed in in public places, restaurants, hotels, boarding houses of Crimea.

Solar power plants in the Crimea can be used in another way - this is the use of a solar collector, which not only feeds the house with electricity, but also heats the coolant of the heating system. It is quite difficult to install both systems on your own, therefore it is recommended not to purchase individual parts of the battery, but to order a comprehensive installation from specialists.

Use of solar energy in Crimea

The effectiveness of the use of photovoltaic energy in the Crimean peninsula is convincingly proved by the fact that the region is actively used by international energy companies to implement their projects. To date, there are 4 high-capacity SPPs in Crimea:

• Perovo - generates up to 100 MW of energy, which makes it the 4th in terms of power among power plants in general and the largest solar power plant in the world. It occupies 200 hectares and is capable of providing energy to the entire Simferopol. The power plant provided jobs for 800 people and significantly reduced air pollution in Crimea.

• Okhotnikovo. It is located in the Saki region of Crimea. Power - 80 MW, which is enough to power 20 thousand houses. It is also one of the five largest batteries in the world.
• Mityaevo (Saksky district). The capacity of 31.55 MW is enough to satisfy the needs of 8,000 houses.
• Rodnikovoe is a small solar power plant with a capacity of 7.5 MW.

The first, experimental SPP with a capacity of 5 MW was built back in the USSR - in 1985. It served as an auxiliary power source for the planned Crimean nuclear power plant. She did not work for long - by 1990 the station was closed.

Thus, the main solar power plants built by the Austrian company ActivSolar have a total capacity of more than 215 MW, which is 1/6 of the needs of the peninsula. Together they reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by 230,000 tons, making the nature of Crimea more protected from environmental disasters.

Providing solar energy to a private house in Crimea

The use of solar panels has a purely positive effect on the well-being of both the entire region and each individual inhabitant of Crimea. If your area is not yet supplied with cheap and environmentally friendly energy, you can purchase a photovoltaic array for your home on your own.

This method of power supply has many advantages:

• complete safety of battery operation;
• profitability;
• ecological cleanliness;
• silence compared to internal combustion generators and even windmills;
• high efficiency.

Installation is carried out as follows:

1. An application is made to a company that sells solar panels.
2. The engineer of the company carries out the necessary measurements and calculations.
3. A contract is concluded for the supply and installation of equipment.
4. Specialists install the system.
5. You accept the job and start using cheap and clean energy.

The cost of a set of equipment depends on the required battery power:

• up to 1.6 kW - up to $ 2750;
• up to 3 kW - up to $ 4500;
• 6 kW and above - from $ 8000.

A personal solar power plant may seem too expensive for Crimea, but remember - by saving on electricity, they will pay off in the shortest possible time!

In Crimea, there are many interesting places that are away from coastal resorts and popular tourist routes. And we will tell about one of these places in our today's article under the heading "Interesting about Crimea".

Today we will talk about the Crimean solar power plant in the village of Perovo, which is one of the five largest and most powerful solar power sites in the world.

A few kilometers west of Simferopol, in the middle of the Crimean steppes scorched by the sun, a traveler suddenly sees an absolutely incredible picture, as if descended from a science fiction movie screen.

This is Perovo, one of the largest solar power plants in the world.

The idea to build a solar energy generator in Crimea did not come about by chance. Already somewhere, where, but here there is plenty of sun! In terms of the number of sunny days, the peninsula is comparable to Australia, and on the territory former USSR according to this indicator, few territories can compete with the Crimea. In addition to the sun, there are enough vast flat spaces on the peninsula - about 60% of the territory of Crimea is occupied by the steppe.

The choice of a place for the construction of the Crimean solar power plant was wide, but in the end, it was decided to build it near the village of Klyuchi of the Perovsky village council, literally a few kilometers west of the Crimean capital. The station appeared in 2011. Its construction was carried out by the Austrian company Activ Solar, one of the leaders in the global solar power market.

Huge mirrors of solar panels installed in the Crimea perform their main function every second - they convert the energy of sunlight into electrical energy. The total electricity capacity generated by the Crimean solar power plant is 105 megawatts. For a better understanding of the indicated volume, let us explain that the energy generated by the Perovo SPP will be enough to cover all the needs of Simferopol - a fairly large city with a population of 340,000 people.

The power plant in Perovo consists of 440 thousand solar photovoltaic modules, which are interconnected by a cable, the total length of which is 1.5 kilometers. The area occupied by the Crimean solar panels is more than 200 hectares or 260 football fields.

The hottest time at the power plant in Perovo comes in the summer. It is on hot summer days that solar panels work here at full capacity. At this time, you will not envy the workers of the solar station - more than 400 thousand modules heat up the already hot atmosphere to the state of a hot frying pan.

By the way, the solar power plant in Perovo, being the largest in the Crimea, is not the only one on the peninsula. So, another large power plant is located in the village of Okhotnikovo in the Saki district. The total capacity of all solar batteries in Crimea is 215 MW.

Unfortunately, in the post-Soviet space, the solar power industry is not yet too developed, although the prospects for this direction are very, very good, as evidenced by the existing world experience.