A solar plant in Slovakia. (source: SME)
An upcoming solar plant in southern Slovakia will be larger in size than the nearby village. After developing projects in Hungary, French energy provider Voltalia plans to build a solar plant with a capacity of 44.2 megawatts near the village of Veľký Blh in the Rimavská Sobota district, Denník N daily reports.
Covering 77 hectares, the facility will rank among the largest solar projects in Slovakia, second only to the plant at the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power station, which spans about 30 hectares more.
Voltalia’s Slovak subsidiary, Eau Chaude, has submitted its plan for an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The project is to be built on pastures leased from local owners.
“The solar plant is located on low-quality land unsuitable for growing crops or fodder. Based on available databases, models and calculations of sunlight across Slovakia, the site ranks among those with the highest potential for solar energy use,” the company stated in its plan, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The facility is designed to use more than 65,000 solar panels. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with operations starting in 2028. No new jobs are expected to be created.
This is not Voltalia’s only project in Slovakia. Through another subsidiary, Bleue, it plans to build an additional solar plant near the village of Chotín in the Komárno district. Located on the site of a former agricultural enterprise, the 14-hectare plant will have a capacity of 11.3 megawatts.
Together, the two facilities are expected to deliver more than 70,000 megawatt hours of electricity to the grid annually.
