Mitsubishi to Acquire 34% Stake in Acciona Group's Solar Power Division

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Mitsubishi Corporation (TYO:8058) (Tokyo, Japan) has solidified its determination to pursue the global renewable energy market by entering into an agreement with Acciona SA (MCE:ANA) (Madrid, Spain) to acquire a 34% stake in the latter's solar power division, Amper Central Solar SA (Moura, Portugal).

The agreement is part of the companies' strategies to move into sustainable renewable energy projects worldwide. The Amareleja photovoltaic (PV) power plant, developed by Amper Central, is seen as an ideal first collaboration between the two companies because its advanced technology and contribution to the local economy falls precisely into the plans of both companies.

The Amareleja site covers more than 250 hectares of nonarable land close to the Spanish-Portuguese border in a region that receives more than 170 kilocalories per square centimeter of solar radiation, an ideal location for a PV power plant. An investment of $330 million was required to build and install 262,080 PV modules contained in 2,520 solar trackers, each of which covers 141 square meters. It is also the largest PV power plant in the world to be connected to a local electricity grid. In December 2008, the project received approval for feed-in tariffs, according to which power producers are able to sell renewable energy at prices up to five times those of conventional power.

The Amareleja plant has an annual output of nearly 93 gigawatt-hours, which is equivalent to the amount of energy consumed by 30,000 homes in Portugal, and a peak power output of 45.8 megawatts (MW). It will play an important part in helping Portugal achieve the objectives defined in its Energy Efficiency and Endogenous Energies (E4) Program, which calls for installed solar PV power generation capacity in the country to reach 150 MW by 2010. The plant saves 89,383 tons of greenhouse gas emissions that would have otherwise been produced by conventional coal-fired power stations of similar power output.

The Acciona group comprises more than 100 companies with 41,000 employees and is active in the construction, engineering, real estate and transportation sectors in addition to the sustainable renewable energy sector. The group owns about 6.5 gigawatts of sustainable power generation assets and makes an ideal partner for Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi consists of more than 200 independent companies operating in more than 80 countries. In April, the group will set up a New Energy Development Division as part of the restructuring of its Corporate Development Divisions, with the express purpose of actively pursuing new areas of sustainable energy production, including solar PV, solar thermal and wind power. Last year, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TYO:6503) (Tokyo), the electrical and electronics division of Mitsubishi Corporation, announced plans to invest more than $70 million to expand the production of PV modules from its 2008 level of 220 MW to 500 MW by 2012. At the same time, the firm announced that it had achieved the world's highest photoelectric conversion efficiency rate of 18.6% with its multicrystalline silicon solar cell.

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