Stunning Solar Energy
By tony leather, 11th Apr 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsTechnology
Clean and renewable energy is the big ambition for many governments, Spain being a leader in the field, awarding SENER, which commercially develops, builds, owns and operates these plants a 25-year regulated tariff.
Stunning Solar Energy
In an age when alternative energy generation is at a premium, it was great to see that Torresol Energy opening the world's first commercial-scale solar power plant, the central tower receiver having tstorage capabilities, supplying 25,000 homes in Spain’s Andalucia with electricity, and saving over 30,000 tons of Carbon Doioxide emissions annually.
Using molten salt heat transfer technology, the Gemasolar greenfield site is can produce 15 hours worth of energy without sunlight, meaning power generation can go on 24/7, via the 2,650 heliostats – mirrors - covering 185 hectares of surrounding land, the system capable of reaching over 900 degrees Centigrade at the central receiver on top of the tower.
Molten salt is the heat transfer medium, reaching 500 degrees Centigrade, delivering hotter and more pressurized steam to the turbine, as the receivers convert 95% of the radiation from the sun into energy, this project the first big step in deployment of such facilities in Europe and throughout the world.
Solar power projects within the United Arab Emirates, for instance, include two 100MW capacity projects, as the construction company SENER work closely with industry leaders to get such projects connected to local grids, the only firm in the world to have developed the technology to such dramatic effect.
Clean and renewable energy is the big ambition for many governments, Spain being a leader in the field, awarding SENER, which commercially develops, builds, owns and operates these plants a 25-year regulated tariff. This ground-breaking Gemasolar project of Torresol Energy received EUR171 million financing from several leading European financial institutions.
They are currently building the Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants, near Cadiz, which will produce enough power to supply this large city , reduce CO2 emmissions by 90,000 tons annually, and be in service by the end of 2011, Spain hoping to be generating 20% of all power needs in this way by 2020.
SENER has already been nominated to represent Spain in the prestigious 2011 European Business Awards in the 'Innovation' category for the Gemasolar project's molten salt storage system technology, which is considered revolutionary in the concentrated solar power sector. The final category Award winners will be announced in Barcelona in November 2011.
Torresol Energy has solar power plant plans for sites in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the USA, all centered around similar technology to this first project, and based on experience gained thus far , other projects including the 1GW London Array. largest proposed offshore wind farm on earth with 341 wind turbines, as well as a 30MW onshore wind farm project southwest of Abu Dhabi and another one in Mahe, on the Seychelles. In an age when green energy is king, it seems this one company is certainly showing everybody else the way forward.
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