Thursday, Jan 19, 2012
(This story was originally published Wednesday)
ABU DHABI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Torresol Energy, a joint venture between Spanish engineering group Sener and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., or Masdar, said Wednesday it had begun commissioning of two identical solar power plants in the south of Spain and was expecting the Abu Dhabi-based Shams One project to begin operations later this year.
"With this announcement we are now closing the first phase of our solar energy investments," said Jorge Sendagorta, Sener president and chief executive officer, at a press conference at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
The Valle 1 and Valle 2 concentrated solar power, or CSP, plants--located in Cadiz in Andalucia--will supply electricity to the local market and use molten salt thermal storage technology that allows the company to generate electricity at night and through periods of poor sunlight.
Sener led the engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC, contract on the two plants and provided all the technology. Each plant will produce 160 gigawatt hours annually--equivalent to the amount of power consumed by 40,000 households. Together, the two plants will cut CO2 emissions by approximately 90,000 tons a year.
Sendagorta said Sener is looking to build more solar plants and will be targeting the U.S. and the Middle East-North Africa region for possible engineering work on similar projects, despite the worsening global economic climate.
"Right now similar projects are being built in the U.S., and in addition we see the Mena region becoming more active. For example Morocco, Abu Dhabi, Oman and other areas will be very important markets for this type of technology," Sendagorta said. He added that the company is also in early talks with Abu Dhabi, which plans to decrease its dependency on fossil fuels in coming years.
"Today, there are many foreign banks financing solar plants in Spain. It is well proven that it represents a steady cash flow proposition, so banks are very comfortable financing this type of project," he added.
The twin Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants secured financing to the tune of 540 million euros from seven Spanish commercial banks in 2009. Construction of the twin plants started in December of the same year and the projects were completed on December 2011.
Frank Wouters, director of Masdar Power, said the start of commercial operations at Valle 1 and Valle 2 as well as the earlier Gemasolar project have been significant milestones for Torresol Energy and he expects the Shams One project in Abu Dhabi to start operations later this year.
"Masdar and Torresol Energy are exploring further business development opportunities to grow our CSP presence worldwide, including the Mena region, where we also see a terrific opportunity in the solar space," he said.
Along with the Gemasolar plant, the two Valle plants will help Spain contribute to Europe's 2020 climate and energy targets, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, increase the use of renewables as a primary source of energy by 20%, and reduce primary energy consumption by 20% through improved efficiency.
-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1692; Tahani.Karrar@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
19-01-12 0359GMT
