E.ON Enters Solar Power Market

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--E.ON Climate and Renewables, part of German energy giant E.ON (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf), has taken its first steps into the thermal solar power market by partnering with Spain's Abengoa Solar (Seville, Spain) to own and operate a pair of 50-megawatt (MW) solar power plants in southern Spain.

The Helioenergy 1 & 2 concentrating solar power (CSP) plants are located in Ecija near Seville and are already under construction. The new 50:50 partnership estimates that it will cost about 550 million euros ($827 million) to complete the plants, which are situated in one of Europe's best areas for solar radiation. The plants will produce enough power to supply 52,000 homes and offset emissions equivalent to 63,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Helioenergy 1 & 2 are expected to become operational in 2011 and 2012, respectively, assuming the partnership gets the green light from the European Commission.

"Our entry into CSP complements our recent moves into the photovoltaic business, and we will now stand on two feet in solar in the future," commented Frank Mastiaux, CEO of E.ON Climate & Renewables. "I am also delighted to be working with Abengoa. We have found an experienced partner with whom we want to drive CSP to new levels of performance."

"Whilst the wind business will continue to be a strong area of investment for us, we have decided to make the solar business the second pillar of growth for the future," he explained. "Simply because its resource potential outpaces every other source of energy on this planet by a mile. Its recent growth as a business sector has been staggering and we expect this trend to continue over decades to come, and, probably one day, solar will take over wind in installed capacity. As a case in point, initiatives like Desertec, where Abengoa and E.ON are founding members, have made solar a centre-piece of its game-changing plans."

Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar, added: "Having E.ON on as a partner in these projects will allow us to continue growing at the speed we want and to improve our capabilities in areas where E.ON has extensive experience."

The plants in Ecija will utilize parabolic trough technology, which employs a large, curved mirror that sits on a motorised base, allowing it to follow the movement of the sun. The curved shape allows the mirror to collect sunlight that is then reflected onto a single point, concentrating the power sent to the receiving tube. The tube is filled with a synthetic heat transfer oil that is heated to 400 degrees Celsius before being pumped to a power block and converted into high-pressure steam that powers a conventional steam turbine to create electricity.

E.ON currently has a portfolio of 3,700 MW of generation capacity in the Iberian Peninsula, with more than 1,100 MW of this coming from renewable sources. The company has committed to spending 8 billion euros ($12 billion) in renewable generation and climate protection projects between 2007 and 2011. The company has 2.8 gigawatts of renewable capacity in operation.

Abengoa Solar is one of the leading solar power companies in the world, with 350-MW of solar energy currently in construction across seven locations in Spain alone. Earlier this year, the company inaugurated the 20-MW PS20 Solar Tower Power Plant at the Solucar Platform near Seville, the world's largest solar tower power plant and only the second such plant in commercial use. For additional information, see related article from May 1, 2009 - World's Largest Solar Tower Power Plant Begins Operation in Spain.

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