Masdar joint venture boosts global solar capacity

Abu Dhabi: Nearly 40,000 households in the south of Spain have this month begun to receive power from a set of twin concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plants that will help to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 90,000 tonnes.

The CSP plants were developed at a cost of ¤540 million (Dh2.5 billion) by Torresol Energy, a joint venture by Masdar and the Spanish engineering and construction firm Sener, senior officials said in the capital yesterday.

"Torresol is also in talks to add further solar capacity through more plants across Spain, the United States and the Middle East and North Africa region at an investment of about $3.5 billion to $5 billion over the next three to five years," said Enrique Sendagorta, the company's president.

He added that one of the firm's future plants could be built in Abu Dhabi.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit, which ends today.

The new CSP plants in Spain, Valle 1 and Valle 2, are now connected to the Spanish national grid and are expected to produce 160 gigawatt-hours of power annually. They are an addition to Spain's solar power generation capacity, which was boosted last year by the inauguration of Torresol's Gemasolar plant.

Emissions

"Spain currently derives 87 per cent of its power from fossil fuels. The power generated from our CSP plants will therefore help the nation contribute to achieving Europe's 2020 climate energy targets, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent as well as increase the share of renewables in the energy mix by 20 per cent," Sendagorta said.

Solar power from both CSP and photovoltaic plants in Spain currently contribute to one per cent of the country's energy mix, he told Gulf News.

Frank Wouters, director of Masdar Power, also said Masdar would be generating more than 200 megawatts of energy via CSP plants by the end of this year.