Torresol to Build 3 Solar Thermal Power Plants in Spain for $1.24 Billion
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 03.17.08
Solar thermal keeps gaining traction. The latest announcement is for a joint venture between Abu Dhabi's Masdar and Spain's Sener. It will be called Torresol Energy, and the initial investment is €800 million (or $1.24 billion) into three solar thermal power plants to be built in Spain.
The first will use an array of heliostats surrounding a central tower receiver (pictured above), and the other two will use parabolic trough technology (liquid is heated in tubes, then turned into steam to power a generator).
Solar thermal plants use mirrors and/or lenses to focus the sun’s light onto a receiver which absorbs the energy as heat. The heat is used to create steam and power turbines to produce electricity. There are a variety of designs and technologies used in these massive power plants, and companies are working on innovations to reduce the costs and increase the efficiency of the process.
::Solar Thermal JV to Spend $1.24B in Spain
See also: ::Solar Thermal Power: Not Forgotten, ::Australian Firm Presents Solar Thermal Storage Concept, ::Spanish Firm, Acciona Energy, Planning 200MW Solar Thermal Power Plant In The US
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It looks to me like Spain is entering the new economy and Alberta is the old economy. It will make good reading in history books on how prosperous use to be.
Any specs on the plants? I'm supprised they didn't tell how much electricity they'll be producing.
I wonder how much of the money generated from this project will leave the Spanish economy? One of the huge wind projects in the US is sending about $250,000 a day to south america to its joint owner.
-Lego
The liquid that is turned into steam - is that water? a lot of water?
Most likely the plants will be producing 50MW. Spain offers heavy incentives to solar thermal projects but the benefits stop at 50MW.