Endesa to construct Spain's largest solar energy plant

The first stage of the plant will have 12.3MW of installed power and will cover 37 hectares. Endesa Generation will start work on this stage in July 2007. Endesa commented that, in total, the plant will have production capacity of 36GWh per year, equivalent to the power required to supply an area such as the Spanish town of Torremolinos. The plant will also prevent 13,300 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Furthermore, production at the plant will increase during the summer months due to the higher number of daylight hours. This will help meet the significant rise in demand in Andalusia in the summer, Endesa said.

So far, Endesa Generation has completed all of the engineering work required for the construction of the plant, and the equipment supplier (current reversers and transformers) is currently being selected from the major domestic and international suppliers. Endesa said that the location of the new plant is ideal, not only because of the amount of solar radiation it receives, but also because photovoltaic cells work better near the coast, where average summer temperatures are cooler. The plant, which will be run by Endesa's cogeneration and renewables division, has been designed to follow solar radiation, the most straightforward configuration, requiring moderate maintenance.

This will allow the group to make the best use of the available land. The project forms part of Endesa's strategic plan for the development of clean energies, which contemplates 100MW of new plant using solar energy in the next five years. The new plant will also improve Endesa's generation mix in Spain, and confirm its commitment to renewable energies, particularly photovoltaic solar energy, as an alternative source of power production with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation. (energy-business-review.com)