I.H.T. Special Report: Business of Green
Energy Plant Makes a Leap in Solar Power
Torresol Energy’s Gemasolar concentrated solar power plant near Seville in the Andalusia region of Spain. The power plant will be able to supply energy to as many as 25,000 homes, when operating at full capacity.
By SARA HAMDAN
Published: October 25, 2011
DUBAI — The world’s first power plant capable of generating solar energy 24 hours a day without interruption was formally inaugurated in Spain this month by Torresol Energy, a joint venture of Masdar, the Abu Dhabi government-backed renewable energy company, and Sener, a Spanish construction and engineering firm.
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“Our country is contributing our strengths and expertise as an energy exporter,” Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, Masdar’s chief executive, told an inaugural ceremony Oct. 4. “Through Masdar, we are working with international partners to increase the role of renewable energy as part of a diversified energy mix, alongside oil, gas, and safe nuclear.”
Torresol Energy’s Gemasolar concentrated solar power plant, near Seville, in Andalusia, is the world’s first commercial plant to use molten salt, rather than oil, to transfer heat generated from concentrated sunlight. The use of salt allows the plant to operate at temperatures of more than 550 degrees Celsius (1,022 Fahrenheit).
“Ultimately, this technology advances the potential of providing solar energy at competitive prices,” Dr. Jaber said.
The use of salt allows Gemasolar to operate at higher temperatures than plants that use traditional parabolic trough technology. This in turn generates hotter pressurized steam to drive the turbine, increasing the plant’s efficiency.
Storing the hot salt also allows electricity generation to continue for as long as 15 hours, even when there is no sunshine — a significant advance in solar generating capability.
Gemasolar, with a 19.9-megawatt turbine, started supplying electricity this year through a high-tension line to a substation in Villanueva del Rey. From there, the power plant will be able to supply as many as 25,000 homes in southern Spain, when operating at full capacity, and is expected to save more than 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
Torresol Energy is also developing two other facilities, Valle 1 and Valle 2, in nearby Cadiz. These 50-megawatt facilities will employ traditional parabolic trough technology and are expected to produce enough energy to sustain 40,000 households. Together, the two plants, both due to start operating by the end of this year, will save 90,000 tons of CO2 emissions a year.
Jorge Sendagorta, chief executive of Sener, said the Gemasolar plant was a showcase for three important technological developments: thermal storage, improving plant availability and reducing intermittency; improved thermoelectric efficiency, with receivers operating at very high temperatures; and cost reduction through industrialized designs and processes.
“All these innovations are particularly demonstrated in this plant,” he said.
A €171 million, or $230 million, financing facility was secured through the open market in 2008 for the construction of Gemasolar, led by Banco Popular, Banesto and the Instituto de Crédito Oficial, with €90 million provided by the European Investment Bank. A further €540 million in project finance loans was secured for the construction of Valle 1 and Valle 2. Total investment in the three facilities came to €1 billion, Masdar said.
“This latest venture is a government-backed initiative in a secure economy that has a good currency,” said Edward Atkinson, an independent renewable energy consultant in the United Arab Emirates. “So it’s clearly a good move, but Masdar also has mandates to produce locally, that are not receiving enough attention.”
Analysts said that Gemasolar showed Masdar’s commitment to becoming a global player in renewable energy. Still, they questioned whether its mission, as initially conceived, was to brand itself as an international clean energy leader, or to develop a domestic hub for clean energy in the Emirates.
Abu Dhabi has a 7 percent renewable energy target by 2020, which Mr. Atkinson said could be challenging to reach.
“A lot has been invested in technology here, but now it’s about delivering actual megawatts,” he said “The concept of Masdar is very strong. There just needs to be a focus on what they are trying to achieve, locally and internationally.”
Masdar Power, one of the five integrated units of Masdar, is charged with building and operating a portfolio of large-scale renewable energy projects that includes both global and local mandates. It is implementing several projects including the 100-megawatt Shams-One solar plant in the United Arab Emirates and the-1,000 megawatt London Array offshore wind farm.
