Technology

The primary objectives of the two research and development consortiums forming part of the Feder-Innterconecta programme the company has been selected to lead by the Centre of Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) are to develop new solar technologies that are more efficient and cost effective. 

The Spanish multinational Ibereólica has submitted for approval by the Government of Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) the Pedro de Valdivia solar thermal electric or concentrating solar power (CSP) plant project: a formidable 360-megawatt plant that will require an investment of $2,600 million. The project is currently at the "qualification" stage, says the SEA.

Abengoa recently announced that it will receive the financial support of Banco Santander to develop the largest solar thermal electric plant in the world. The Solana proect is being developed in Arizona and will be the first US solar power plant to boast energy storage, reveals the Spanish multinational.

Renovalia Energy has launched its third-generation concentrating solar power technology worldwide and has announced the commissioning of 71 MW in Spain, with an investment of €300 million and creating over 1,200 jobs. Casas de los Pinos, Cuenca, will host the first MW.

The Almeria Solar Platform (PSA) is home to a solar thermal electric plant boasting a 100-KW hybrid gas turbine. The plant consists of a system of heliostats with a 30-metre tower housing a turbo generator with a 100-kW turbine, the added value of which is the residual heat it provides.  

Abengoa and JGC Corporation have announced that the Solacor 1 solar thermal electric plant, located at the El Carpio Solar Complex in the province of Cordoba, has been brought on line. It is also envisaged that in the near future, Solacor 2 will join the list of solar thermal electric plants operating in Spain.

The Advanced Technology Centre for Renewable Energy (CTAER) has appointed Abengoa to build a unique facility in the world. It has been dubbed the “Variable Geometry Solar Plant,” devised by a professor of thermodynamics at the University of Seville, Valeriano Ruiz.

Solar thermal electricity is synonymous with Spain. This sector saw installed capacity rise to over 1,100 MW during 2011, more than double that of the US, its nearest rival.

South Africa's Department of Energy has selected Abengoa to build the first 150 MW of solar thermal electricity capacity in the country. The two projects form part of the South African government's goal to introduce up to 17,800 MW of renewable energy by 2030 and reduce its dependence on oil and natural gas.

Cobra Energía, which owns the Extresol-2 solar thermal electric plant, has announced that the plant has become the first to produce 3,000 hours (net) of electricity. The new record was set in less than a year between January and November 2011.