INVESTMENT PROPOSAL ON THE FORMER LANDFILL IN SCHISTO AREA - MUNICIPALITY OF PERAMA Country: GREECE Region: ATTIKI City: MUNICIPALITY OF PERAMA, ATHENS Site typology: FORMER LANDFILL 1. Foreword In the former landfill of Schisto Peramatos the restoration works have already been completed and the Environmental Association of Municipalities of Athens Piraeus (PESYDAP), which has under its responsibilities this piece of land, is willing to use the area for the development of a PV park of 1 MW, with the possibility of further increase of the installed capacity up to 3 MW the following years. PESYDAP, i.e. the Environmental Association of Municipalities of Athens Piraeus, founded in 1983 as a Public Entity in order to study the problems of inter-municipal areas covering the municipalities members, provide environmental consultancy and studies, research projects and programs relating to the environment, has already conducted the necessary assessments and relevant studies, in close cooperation with CRES. 2. The context In the area Lakkomata Schistou Peramatos the Phosphoric Fertilizers Industry of Drapetsona was operating for 20 years (1979-1999). During this time, the industry had deposited 10,000,000 tones of phosphogypsum coming from its activities in the former quarry of Schisto in Mountain Egaleo. Phosphogypsum is considered as a rather radioactive effluent. According to the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), the measurements made in the area showed that there is no immediate danger for the public health as long as the land use The phosphogypsum (white) area before the restoration works doesn t change. Therefore,
the area should not be used for residential use nor should the effluents reach the aquifer or humans. Since radium has a half life of 1600 years, the area can be characterized as a typical M2RES site (former quarry + uncontrolled landfill + contaminated site). The area covered by the radioactive effluent is of 125 stremmas. 3. The new exploitation of the area The Environmental Association of Municipalities of Athens Piraeus (PESYDAP) implemented in the near past (during 2006-2007) restoration activities in the area (see pictures). The activities consisted of the coverage of the radioactive area s surface by special membranes, and then the overlay of a coating with 70 cm of soil. But this was only the first step, as PESYDAP has in its plans to complement the above mentioned restoration activities with others that will bring back to the area its economic value, and at the The membranes, before the coating with soil same time will be profitable for the environment and the local community (increasing the quality of life). Under this respect, PESYDAP has included in its Development Strategy for 2013-14 actions to initiate (at least to include parts or all - of it in the National Strategic Reference Framework - NSRF Programme) a rather ambitious project within the system "Photovoltaic Park for pumping water from Psittalia Create reservoir - Reforestation of Mountain Egaleo". The project is seen as a whole, but consists of two sub-projects. The landfill after the restoration 1a. The proposed solar park was originally a 1 MW p PV park sited on the restored uncontrolled landfill (from
now on called HADA, as is the Greek short-name of this type of establishments) of Schisto (in the future it can be extended to 3 MW p ). This work is of particular development dimension as the solar farm will produce the energy needed to pump water from the effluent treatment plant of Psittalia to support reforestation of the Mountain Egaleo and the wider region. At the same time, revenues from the operation of the PV park will ensure the sustainability of the Association and its financial self-sufficiency, thereby gradually diminishing the contributions of municipalities - members. 1b. The construction of a reservoir of about 30,000 m 3 in Mountain Egaleo which is supportive as storage and disposal of the treated waters from Psittalia. Up to now, PESYDAP s experience shows that the existence and operation of the reservoir is a prerequisite for the success of actions related to the extensive reforestation of Mountain Egaleo. In this context, the necessary steps have been made towards the Region of Attica and its Peripheral Operational Programme (EPPERAA) to join it in their projects for funding relating to the use of treated wastewater from the Wastewater Psittalia and irrigation of Mountain Egaleo. 4. Description of the investment In the following, the focus will be to the under design PV park of 1 MW p nominal capacity to be installed on the restored HADA of Schisto. This M2RES type platform is at the south side of Mountain Egaleo, which in general has locally steep slopes. The specific characteristics of the site where the potential M2RES platform will be installed are: The site is located at the south slopes of mountain Egaleo, having a 10% inclination (i.e. around 20 o ). The site is rather close to the ridge of mountain Egalaeo (which is at 358.88 meters above sea level), and more precisely it is located between the contour lines 194 and 254. The site is free from shadowing effects during all day, being very suitable for the installation of PV systems. The medium voltage power transmission lines are very close to the site (around 50 meters), which means that the procedure of connecting the plant to the grid will be direct and with minimum costs. The site is directly accessed from the existing road network, so the transportation of the equipment for the facilities will be rather easy. The area is considered as an industrial zone, and in a distance of 200 300 meters from the site there is an industrial park, a waste transfer station, as well as storage facilities in the form of containers; this means that the area is rather environmentally degraded and its potential use for cultural or other type of social activities is prohibitive. For carrying out the energy study and the documentation of the local RES potential, the available meteorological data were collected for the irradiation in the Attica s region for last decade, as well
as data for the frequency and intensity of rainfall and snowfall in the area of Piraeus. In addition, data have been collected from the SOLAREC s site (satellite) and a previous study of CRES for the area and the specific site of the PV plant s installation. From all these data it was derived that: Irradiation on the horizontal plane: 9,106 MWh Irradiation on the optimally inclined plane: 9,984 MWh With a Coefficient of Performance 15% for the PV generator: Energy produced by the PV system = 1,500 MWh With an overall Coefficient of Performance 14.2% for the PV system: Energy output = 1,430 MWh (per year). The technology proposed for the PV system is monocrystaline silicon panels of 215 W each, from the Sanyo Energy Corporate. More specifically, it is planned to install 16 panels in line and 290 strings in parallel connection, resulting in a total of 290 x 16= 4640 panels. The panels would have an inclination of 30 o facing directly south. As for the inverter, the SMA Central SC 1000 MV model of the SMA Company will be used, with a three-phase medium-voltage transformer of 20 kv, 50Hz. Analytically, the technical characteristics of the components of the PV system are: PV panels Monocrystaline silicon type panels of Sanyo Energy Corporate, type HIP 215 NHE 5, of 215 Watt power, efficiency factor (STC) 17.2%, power deviation ±5%, dimensions: 1.570 x 0.798 or 1.25 m 2, weight: 15 kg, voltage at maximum power(mpp) 42 V, current at MPP 5.13 A, open circuit voltage 48.0 V, short circuit current 5.61 A. The cables to be used for the wiring of the PV system will be from the Schuco Solar company and meet all standards for PV systems, are certified according to VDE, have high resistance at temperatures above 120 o C, are moisture and UV radiation resistant, have double insulation and are resistant to short circuits. The cross sections of the connection cables of PV panels of a string are of 2.5 mm 2 and the losses do not exceed 1%. The voltage of the PV generator at MPP in 70 o C and 1000 W/m 2, and in -10 o C and 1000 W/m 2 is 585-741 V respectively. The open circuit s voltage of the PV generator in -10⁰C and 1000 W/m 2 is 898 V, whereas the maximum acceptable voltage of the inverter from the PV system is 900 V. The maximum acceptable voltage of the panels is 1000 V. String Monitor For the connection of the 290 strings 29 Sunny String Monitors will be used (each one connecting in parallel 10 strings), equipped with a safety switch. Their technical characteristics are: Voltage interval at MPP 250-880 V; maximum value of input current 16 A, maximum number of strings per safety switch 2;
allowed cable cross section of the string up to 6 mm 2 ; number of allowed strings in parallel connection 8; Safety switch WFF BOLZENKLEMME M10, Grounding WFF BOLZENKLEMME M6; Safety according to the IEC 60529:IPG5; Dimensions: 750 / 435 / 230 mm; Weight 13 kg. The cables (wiring) from the 29 Sunny String Monitors end up at 4 Sunny Main Boxes, and the wirings of the four Main Boxes will end up at the inverter. Inverter The SC 1000 MV inverter of SMA Technologie AG that will be used in the park is composed of two Sunny Central units of 500 kw each, which are connected with a Sunny Team device of the same company. The two inverters of 500 kw together with the medium voltage transformer (20 kv) will be located in a power station made of concrete. The technical characteristics of the inverter are: Proposed power of the PV generator: 1160 kw p PV generator s voltage interval at the MMP: 450-880 V Maximum DC voltage: 900 V Maximum input current: 4x591 A AC-power of the inverter: 1000 kw AC- output current: 28.8 A Working range of V ac : 20 kv Grid frequency: 50 Hz /60 Hz Weigh of the transformer: 35 tones Dimensions: 5400 / 3620 / 3000 Energy consumption of the inverter: <1% P ac Outdoor temperature: -20 o C to 40 o C; Moisture: 15 to 95%. 5. Management and economic considerations To conclude, the PV plant under study has the following main characteristics: Nominal capacity: 999.73 kw p (4640 PV panels of 215 W each); Area of the PV panels: 5813.3 m 2 Area to be covered by the PV system: about 25 to 30 stremmas (so, there exist more room for further expansion of the PV plant, according to the initial plans of PESYDAP). For a PV park of the above dimensions, the following costs are estimated: Equipment cost: 1,230,000 Cost of construction works & engineering: 120,000 Connection to the grid costs: 50,000
Note: All the above costs do not include VAT. So, a total investment of around 1,400,000 will be requested for installing the PV park (of 1 MW p capacity). On the other hand, and according to the current feed-in tariffs available for PV plants of > 100 kw p installed capacity, the guaranteed price for selling the electricity produced to the TSO is 90 /MWh. Taking into consideration that a yearly production of 1,430 MWh is foreseen from this PV park, it can be said that in its first year of operation the foreseen PV plant will create an income of ~128,700. For the economic calculations, however, it has been taken into account the applicable deceleration of prices with time. Some other general economic parameters that have been taken into consideration when performing the economic calculations: Time frame of the study: 20 years; Operational costs (including O&M and Management & Administration costs): 30,000 / year; Escalation of operational costs by time: 2% per year; Tax rate: 25%; Depreciation period: 20 years; Depreciation rate: 5% (linear depreciation); Subsidies / grants (expected): 560,000 (40% of the total investment). The calculations made i.e. the corresponding Business Plan developed are as follows: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Own funds 840,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 Sales of energy 128,7 128,7 115,8 115,8 115,8 115,8 115,8 115,8 Operational costs 30,0 30,6 31,2 31,8 32,5 33,1 33,8 34,5 Depreciation 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 Total grants 560,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 Results before taxes 588,7 28,1 14,6 14,0 13,4 12,7 12,0 11,4 Income tax 147,2 7,0 3,7 3,5 3,3 3,2 3,0 2,8 Profit after taxes 441,5 21,1 11,0 10,5 10,0 9,5 9,0 8,5 Cash flows after taxes -888,5 91,1 81,0 80,5 80,0 79,5 79,0 78,5 Cash balances -888,5-797,4-716,4-635,9-555,9-476,4-397,4-318,8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 Year 14 Year 15 Year 16 Own funds 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 Sales of energy 115,8 115,8 115,8 103,0 103,0 103,0 103,0 103,0 Operational costs 35,1 35,9 36,6 37,3 38,0 38,8 39,6 40,4 Depreciation 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 Total grants 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 Results before taxes 10,7 10,0 9,3-4,3-5,1-5,8-6,6-7,4 Income tax 2,7 2,5 2,3-1,1-1,3-1,5-1,7-1,9 Profit after taxes 8,0 7,5 6,9-3,3-3,8-4,4-5,0-5,6 Cash flows after taxes 78,0 77,5 76,9 66,7 66,2 65,6 65,0 64,4 Cash balances -240,8-163,3-86,4-19,6 46,5 112,1 177,2 241,6
Year 17 Year 18 Year 19 Year 20 Year 21 Total (thousand ) Own funds 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 840,0 Sales of energy 103,0 103,0 103,0 103,0 103,0 2329,5 Operational costs 41,2 42,0 42,8 43,7 44,6 773,5 Depreciation 70,0 70,0 70,0 70,0 0,0 1400,0 Total grants 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 560,0 Results before taxes -8,2-9,0-9,9-10,7 58,4 716,0 Income tax -2,1-2,3-2,5-2,7 14,6 179,0 Profit after taxes -6,2-6,8-7,4-8,1 43,8 537,0 Cash flows after taxes 63,8 63,2 62,6 61,9 43,8 537,0 Cash balances 305,5 368,7 431,2 493,2 537,0 Note: All the above numbers / figures are in thousands. The above results are graphically presented in the below figure: Thousands EUR 800,0 600,0 400,0 200,0 0,0-200,0-400,0-600,0-800,0-1000,0 Year 1 Year 2 Cash balances Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 Year 14 Year 15 Year 16 Year 17 Year 18 Year 19 Year 20 Year 21 from which it can be derived that the depreciation of the initial investment will be achieved in about 12.2 years. 6. Conclusions In addition to the above analysis made ( Business plan ), other relevant factors (like the NPV, IRR, etc.) also point out the feasibility of the proposal / plan, and its financial viability (even with the FiT valid today for large PV parks). It must be further mentioned (as regards the above analysis) that the grants / subsidies expected to the whole investment were supposed to come from the subsidy
of the Investment Law of Greece (covering the 20% of the total investment) plus another 20% from the participation of a natural person or legal entity in accordance with the procedures of Law 3389/2005 on Public-Private Sector Partnerships. However, this has changed in the mean time, as the new Investment Law of Greece does not allow subsidizing investment plans submitted by Public Law entities (as is PESYDAP), unless if they form a company holding up to 49% of its shares. So, a different source of funding should be found (probably though the incorporation of the entire project in the NSRF Programme see in the beginning). Also, another scenario was run, in which the 20% of the initial investment required (1.4 million ) could be covered by bank loans (10-years loan with an interest rate of 6%). Whichever the case, and although the application to the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) that needs to be submitted in order to get the operation licence is more or less ready, it was not and will not be submitted in the near future (at least as long as the M2RES project is/was ongoing) since, in the mean time, there was a Ministerial Decision (by the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change) by which the licensing procedure of ALL PV related projects / plans / investment proposals is suspended, due to the fact that the currently licensed capacity of PV systems in Greece (with signed contracts for connection to the grid) exceeds the targets set for 2020! So, until new targets for 2020 will be established, the proposed by PESYDAP PV park in the Schisto area (as shown in the virtual representation below) has to remain in papers. This is, of course, the case with the whole system "Photovoltaic Park for pumping water from Psittalia Create reservoir - Reforestation of Mountain Egaleo". Virtual representation of the PV park foreseen to be installed in the area of the former uncontrolled landfill in Schisto