Iberdrola's First Solar Thermal Power Plant Inaugurated

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Recently, the Spanish power company Iberdrola SA (MCE:IBE) (Bilbao) inaugurated the company's first solar thermal power station, the Central Termosolar de Puertollano, which has an installed capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) and is located in Puertollano city in the Castilla-La Mancha region.

The recently inaugurated plant had a total investment cost of $272 million and is equipped with 352 parabolic cylinder collectors with 120,000 parabolic mirrors and 13,000 absorber tubes. The solar power plant will supply clean energy to 100,000 inhabitants and help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 90,000 tons.

Solar power generation is developing rapidly in Spain. The Spanish government is committed to having 12% of the country's generating capacity coming from renewable energy by 2010, with an installed solar-generating capacity of 3,000 MW.

In April 2009, Abengoa Solar (Seville, Spain) inaugurated its 20-MW PS20 Solar Tower Power Plant near Seville. The facility is the world's largest solar tower power plant and the second in commercial use. The first such plant to go into operation is the 10-MW PS10 solar power plant which is also owned by Abengoa and became operational March 30, 2007. PS20 is equipped with 1.255 heliostat mirrors, which reflect the solar radiation into the receiver, producing steam which is converted into electricity by a steam turbine. For further information, see related May 1, 2009, article - World's Largest Solar Tower Power Plant Begins Operation in Spain.

In November 2008, the Spanish engineering company Grupo Sener (Vizcaya) announced the start of construction of another solar power plant in Spain, the 17-MW Solar Tres Power Station. The facility, located in Fuentes de Andalucia, has a total investment value of $250 million and is a solar-tower power plant with the first molten-salt central receiver and heat-storage plant in the world. For additional information see news article from December 12, 2008 - Sener Begins Construction of Solar Power Plant in Spain.

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