Sun Shines on Solnova 1 Solar Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Spanish renewable energy company Abengoa Solar (Seville, Spain) has begun commercial operations for its Solnova 1 solar farm, the company's first 50-megawatt (MW) parabolic trough plant.

Located at the Solucar Solar Complex in Seville, Solnova 1 will generate enough electricity for almost 26,000 homes and offset 31,400 tons of CO2 emissions annually. The company has reported that a three-day production test was completed successfully, where actual performance matched the predicted electricity generation estimates. The plant is using Abengoa's own Astro parabolic trough collector. Solnova 1 is the first of Abengoa's parabolic trough plants to be brought online. The Solucar Solar Complex features five other 50-MW plants at various stages of construction and, when complete, the 300 MW of electricity generated will be enough for 153,000 homes and eliminate emissions of 185,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar, said that reaching theoretical design capacity during production testing was a "significant milestone" for the company. "Our technological progress and accumulative expertise have enabled us to reach our goals much sooner than we had anticipated," he said. "We will use this experience in the two 280-MW CSP plants planned for the United States in Arizona and California."

Solnova 1 is made up of about 980,000 square feet (300,000 square meters) of mirrors that cover an area totalling approximately 280 acres (115 hectares). The plant uses technology which concentrates solar radiation onto a heat-absorbing pipe which contains a liquid that reaches high temperatures. This fluid transfers its energy to the water vapour that reaches a turbo-generator, where it expands to produce electricity.

Abengoa's Solucar complex is also home to the world's largest solar tower, the 20-MW PS20 Solar Tower Power Plant, which was commissioned in May last year. The plant is equipped with 1,255 heliostat mirrors developed by Abengoa, which reflect solar radiation into the receiver, producing steam that is converted into electricity by a steam turbine. The plant is capable of supplying clean energy to 10,000 homes. For additional information, see May 1, 2009, article - World's Largest Solar Tower Power Plant Begins Operation in Spain.

In related news, SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWRA) (San Jose, California) has announced that it plans to build a 1.3-MW solar power plant in Italy for a joint venture company set-up by a subsidiary of French utility Electricite de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) (EDF) (Paris, France) and Italian project developer Emmecidue (Milano, Italy). The plant will be on a 4.7-hectare site and will feature SunPower's 96-cell, E 18 / 305 solar panels with an efficiency of 18%, installed on its T0 Tracker systems. The tracker follows the sun during the day and delivers up to 25% more energy than fixed-tilt systems, SunPower said. The plant also requires half the land area to produce the same amount of energy as conventional dual-axis trackers. The plant will be operational by the end of the year.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Utility-Scale Solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

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