Masdar's Spanish solar venture goes live

JV between Madar and Torresol announced the commissioning of its flagship solar plant. (Getty Images)

Torresol Energy, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi's Masdar and SENER, the Spanish engineering and construction firm has announced the commissioning of its flagship 19.9 megawatt Gemasolar Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in Seville, Spain.
The world's first commercial-scale CSP plant featuring a central tower receiver with thermal storage capabilities has begun supplying electricity to 25,000 homes in the Andalucía region of Spain. The plant is expected to save more than 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emission a year.

The innovative molten salt heat transfer technology deployed at the Gemasolar greenfield independent power project helps avoid fluctuations in power supply through a system that is capable of 15 hours of energy production without sunlight. This allows for generation of electricity 24 hours a day for many months of the year, even during the hours of darkness or poor daylight during winter.
The Gemasolar plant comprises 2,650 heliostats (mirrors) that stretch approximately 185 hectares.

The

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system is capable of reaching temperatures exceeding 900 degrees centigrade at the central receiver located at the top of the tower. The tower technology uses molten salt as a heat transfer medium that reaches temperatures above 500 degrees centigrade and allows delivering hotter pressurised steam to the turbine than the parabolic trough technology, which significantly increases the performance of the overall plant.

Frank Wouters, Director of Masdar Power, said: "The commissioning of the CSP plant marks another key milestone in the development and deployment of solar energy in Europe. It also highlights Masdar's commitment to partner with global industry leaders such as SENER and bring clean technology closer to the community.”

“Masdar is currently working on other solar power projects within the UAE including Shams One and Noor One projects, each with 100 megawatt capacity,” he added. “We will continue to work closely with industry leaders in the development of projects and ensure they are commissioned and connected to local grids as part of our larger efforts to adopt clean and renewable energy."
 

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