Madrid, Spain: Iberdrola Proceeds with Nine Solar Thermal Electric Plants
September 20, 2005
Spanish utility, Iberdrola is developing nine solar thermoelectric power projects in Spain with combined capacity of 450 MW. The company says that it aims to have 5,500 MW in renewables by 2008, of which 1,000 MW will be installed abroad.
Iberdrola has nine projects in the pipeline for building thermoelectric solar plants in Spain with aggregate installed capacity of 450 MW, situated in the regions of Extremadura, Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Murcia and Castile-Leon.
The nine projects consist of thermosolar plants using parabolic trough collectors, which heat a fluid by focusing solar radiation on a given point to produce steam, with the ultimate aim of generating electricity. Solar radiation is concentrated using collectors with a selective surface. Oil flows through an absorber tube placed in the focal point of the parabola. Radiation is reflected onto this tube, heating the oil inside to around 390ºC. When it is hot, the thermal oil flows to an oil-water heat exchanger, where it generates steam, which subsequently powers a conventional turbine.
Through Ibersol Badajoz, the company is developing three projects in Extremadura: a 50 MW plant in Fuente de Cantos and two in Valdecaballeros, totalling a further 100 MW.
There are two projects underway in Andalusia: Ibersol Sevilla, a plant with a maximum capacity of 50 MW in Aznalcollar, and Ibersol Almería, which plans to build a 50 MW solar plant in Tabernas.
In Castile-La Mancha, Iberdrola is working on the projects Ibersol Ciudad Real, to install 50 MW in Puertollano, and Ibersol Albacete, contemplating another 50 MW plant in Almansa.
The company also plans to install 50 MW in Lorca, through Ibersol Murcia, and another 50 MW in Cubillos, through Ibersol Zamora.
Altogether, these solar power plants will have an installed capacity of 450 MW, exceeding the power of a thermal plant, with the added advantage of using an entirely clean technology harnessing a renewable source of energy that is abundant in Spain.
Thermoelectric solar energy is one of the strategic objectives for Iberdrola’s renewable energies area, which is making detailed studies of the different solar technologies available.
IBERDROLA’s strategy of growing in the RES sector is part and parcel of its commitment to the environment and sustainable development and is also in keeping with compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Emissions Trading Directive. The company pioneered the development of clean energies, free of greenhouse gases, starting with its historic commitment to hydroelectric power from its founding over 100 years ago.
