GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A plant in Italy for the production of photovoltaic cells will become the largest such facility in the country when it enters production in 2011, partners said.
Enel Green Power, a division of Italian utility giant Enel, joined forces with Japan's Sharp and Italian-French electronics company STMicroelectronics to sign an agreement to manufacture thin-film photovoltaic panels at a plant in Catania, Italy.
The plant targets an annual production capacity of 480 megawatts of energy during the next few years. Enel said the Catania plant "will represent the single most important production facility" in Italy for photovoltaic panels when operations start in 2011.
Each partner provides an equal share of the $460 million investment needed to start the project.
In a separate deal, Enel and Sharp signed an agreement to develop solar farms for markets in the Middle East and Europe. The aim of that deal is for the installation of 500 MW in solar capacity by 2016 using panels from the Catania factory.
