Abu Dhabi and Spanish entities combine to develop concentrating solar projects

Mar 21, 2008 - Power News

Spanish engineering group SENER and Abu Dhabi energy company MASDAR have incorporated a new company, Torresol Energy, whose mission will be to develop, build, and operate large concentrated solar power (CSP) plants worldwide.

The new company will begin with projects in Spain, which already has several CSP installations. Torresol Energy's goal is to begin construction of at least two large CSP projects per year. The new entity's press release says it plans to have an installed base of 320 MW over the next five years and 1,000 MW within 10 years.

The larger goal is to use in each project the latest technology and establish CSP as a competitive, reliable technology. CSP uses the sun's heat to produce energy, whereas photovoltaics use the sun's light.

SENER has been working for almost a decade on solar thermal power technology development. It is currently designing and building, in a joint venture, three 50-MW parabolic through plants with molten salt storage in Spain. It has also devised and tested innovative solutions for CSP tower plants and has started the detailed design of 'central receiver plants.' The company expects to apply all these solutions in Torresol Energy projects and for other clients worldwide.

SENER, a privately owned engineering and technology group founded in Bilbao in 1956, has sales of $790 million and a workforce of more than 4,500. MASDAR is the Abu Dhabi government's initiative for the creation of a comprehensive, multifaceted, and global alternative energy development program.

Source: Torresol Energy