Wind Energy

Abengoa Partners with Santamader for Solana Concentrating Solar Power Project

To develop this project, Abengoa, a company that employs novel technological solutions for sustainability, will partner with Banco Santander’s subsidiary, Capital Riesgo Global. Banco Santander will become the fiscal partner for developing Solana.

The 280 MW concentrating solar power project is being constructed by Abengoa and will be the first plant to stock energy in the US. The project will produce sufficient electricity to power 70,000 houses and eliminate 475,000 t of carbon dioxide emission annually.

Furthermore, concentrating solar power technology produces dispatchable power for the whole day without interruption. This is achieved through the storage capacity and thermal inertia included in the technology.

Solana is nearly a $2,000 million project. In December 2010, Abengoa received a federal loan guarantee for nearly $1.45 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Loan Guarantee Program. Currently, Capital Riesgo Global will be investing $125 million and will become a stake holder of the project. Abengoa’s contribution to the capital fund will be reduced by this partnership. The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and DOE have approved this investment.

Nearly 50% of building work has been completed as scheduled and the project will start energy production from 2013. Over 1,300 employees have been hired for the project and will be increased to 1600 soon.

Abengoa uses novel technological solutions for developing sustainability in the environment and energy markets. It is involved in biofuel production, desalination of sea water, industrial waste recycling and solar power production.

By José Santamarta, www.abengoa.com