Endesa has received a municipal permit to build a 20.1 megawatt photovoltaic solar energy plant on land located in Guadarranque industrial park in San Roque.

Company officials estimate the plant will save 13,300 tons of CO2 emissions a year.

The decision to build a plant using this type of technology meets environmental criteria as these facilities produce no greenhouse gases whatsoever.

Also, selecting the plant's site obeyed a series of climatological and economic criteria.

The location is ideal not only because of the amount of solar radiation it receives but also because photovoltaic cells work better near the coast, where average summer temperatures are cooler, company officials said in a statement.

The plant has been designed to follow solar radiation -- the most straightforward configuration -- requiring moderate maintenance and allows the group to make the best use of the available land.

The project is part of Endesa's plan for development of clean energies, which proposes 100 megawatts of new solar energy in the next five years.

The first stage of the plant will have 12.3 megawatts of installed power covering 91 acres. Endesa Generation will start work in July.