solar thermal power - Greenpeace

Table 6: Solar Thermal Power Targets in Spain by Region
Solar Thermal power targets in Spain by Regions
Regions Government’s Existing plans Greenpeace
Plan by 2010 from companies scenario by 2010
(MW) (MW) (MW)
Andalusia 50 125 125
Balearic Islands 0 - 10
Canary Islands 25 - 25
Castilla-La Mancha 50 - 50
Extremadura 25 - 25
Madrid 25 - 25
Murcia 25 - 25
Navarra 0 15 15
Total 200 140 300
One advantage of this project is that Mexico has a well
developed industrial base and skilled labour force with the
potential to manufacture domestically most of the plant’s
equipment and components. This would lower the total cost
and possibly develop an industry supplying solar thermal
components for other plants around the world. Mexican
companies have already been manufacturing parabolic
collectors for US installations and have demonstrated their
ability to meet international quality standards.
Spain
In September 2002, Spain was the first European country to
introduce a “feed-in tariff” funding system for solar thermal
power. This means that the generation output from solar
thermal plants is guaranteed a premium payment of 12 €
cents/kWh on top of the electricity pool price which oscillated
between 2-8 cents per kilowatt hour. The official target is to
connect 200 MW of solar thermal power to the grid by 2010.
On this basis, several solar thermal project developments have
been proposed in Spain, the most prominent being:
• 10 MWe solar-only power tower plant project Planta Solar
(PS-10) at Sanlúcar near Sevilla promoted by Solucar S.A.,
part of the Abengoa Group. The PS-10 project has received
a €5 million grant from the 5th Framework Programme of
the European Union. All permits had been received by late
2002 and negotiations started with the financing banks.
• 15 MWe solar-only power tower plant Solar Tres project in
the province of Cordoba promoted by the Spanish company
Ghersa and Bechtel/Boeing employing US molten-salt
technologies for receiver and energy storage. Together with
Ghersa, Nexant and Boeing have formed a company called
Solar Tres to finance and build a fully commercial 15 MWe
solar power tower plant that can deliver this power around
the clock. The Solar Tres project has received a €5 million
grant from the EU’s 5th Framework Programme.
• 15 MWe solar trough power plant EuroSEGS at Montes de
Cierzo near Pamplona promoted by the Spanish EHN group
in cooperation with SOLARGENIX (former Duke solar), USA.
• Two 50 MWe solar trough power plants, AndaSol-1 and 2,
are being promoted by the Millennium Solar AG group and
its industrial partners in the region of Andalucia with a
510,120 m 2 SKALET solar collector field and six hours
thermal storage. The AndaSol-1 project has received a €5
million grant from the EU’s 5th Framework Programme and
financial support from the German Ministry for
Environment. All permitting documents had been
submitted by the end of 2002.
Table 6 shows the Spanish government’s plans (by region)
for solar thermal power development, together with current
plans from private companies. The third column shows a
very conservative Greenpeace scenario where all proposed
private projects succeed (and thus surpass the official
targets for those regions) and the remaining regional
governments stick to their respective targets; a new
target is added for the Balearic Islands. This Greenpeace
scenario can be met, provided there is political will both
to support private initiatives and to meet public targets.
In fact, Greenpeace considers that a more ambitious target
of 1,000 MW by 2010 is feasible and necessary, and
thus the modest existing target should be raised, leading
to a new more active policy of legislative, economic
and fiscal measures in support of solar thermal power.
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS 29