The Greece- Colombia football match to be played on Saturday will represent a first in World Cup terms- it will be the first time the prestigious tournament will be played in a solar-powered stadium.

Mineirão stadium will be powered by Martifer Solar who built the rooftop PV plant as part of the Minas Solar 2014 program for CEMIG and their partners, German bank kfW and Minas Arena.

The 1.4 MW plant will offset 139.7 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which is sufficient energy to power more than 2,700 inhabitants in Brazil on an annual basis

The stadium at Belo Horizonte will host six games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, including a semi-final match on 8th July. According to a recent statement from CEMIG, the 1.4 MW PV installation at Mineirão stadium is the first investment of its type, as well as being the first large-scale solar power facility in operation within the country of Brazil.

The installation at the Mineirão stadium was built on an area of approximately 10,000 m2, which covers more than 85% of the stadium’s rooftop. There are 5,910 modules installed in a fixed position, which totals an estimated production capacity of more than 1.6 GWh on an annual basis. With this capacity, the PV plant will offset 139.7 tons of carbon dioxide each year, which is sufficient energy to power more than 2,700 inhabitants in Brazil on an annual basis.

Martifer Solar has been operating in Brazil since 2012, and is currently one of the largest PV players in the market.