Solar power in Spain

The Spanish government is committed to achieving the target of 12 percent of primary energy from renewable energy by 2010 with an installed solar generating capacity of 400 megawatts. Spain is one of the most attractive countries with regard to the development of solar energy, as it has the greatest amount of available sunshine of any country in Europe. Spain is the fourth largest manufacturer in the world of solar power technology and exports 80 percent of this output to Germany.[1]

Through a ministerial ruling in March 2004, the Spanish government removed economic barriers to grid-connection of renewable energy. The widely applauded Royal Decree 436/2004 equalises conditions for large-scale thermal and photovoltaic plants and guarantees feed-in tariffs. [2]

Solar thermal power plants

In March 2007, Europe's first commercial concentrating solar power tower plant was opened near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville. The 11 megawatt plant known as PS10, produces electricity with 624 large heliostats. Each of these mirrors has a surface measuring 120 square meters (1,290 square feet) that concentrates the Sun's rays to the top of a 115 meter (377 foot) high tower where a solar receiver and a steam turbine are located. The turbine drives a generator, producing electricity. PS10 is the first of a set of solar electric power generation plants to be constructed in the same area that will total more than 300MW by 2013. This power generation will be accomplished using a variety of technologies. [3]

Two 50 MWe solar thermal trough power plants, AndaSol-1 and AndaSol-2, are being promoted jointly by ACS Cobra and the Solar Millennium group in the region of Andalucia, each with a 510,120 m² solar collector field and six hours’ thermal storage. The AndaSol-1 project obtained financial closure in May 2006 and has received a €5 million grant from the European Commission’s (EC) Fifth Framework Programme, along with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Environment. Construction started in July 2006 and will be completed in 2008. [4]

A 15 MWe solar-only power tower plant, the Solar Tres project, is in the hands of the Spanish company SENER, employing United States molten salt technologies for receiver and energy storage. Its 16-hour molten-salt storage system will be able to deliver power around the clock. The Solar Tres project has received a €5 million grant from the EC’s Fifth Framework Programme. [5]

Solar thermal power plants designed for solar-only generation are ideally matched to summer noon peak loads in prosperous areas with significant cooling demands, such as Spain. Using thermal energy storage systems, solar thermal operating periods can even be extended to meet base-load needs. For example, the 50-MWe AndaSol solar trough power plants are designed with six to twelve hours of thermal storage, which increases annual availability by some 1,000 to 2,500 hours. [6]

Photovoltaics

A 20MW photovoltaics (PV) power plant is being built in Beneixama.[7]

BP Solar has begun constructing a new solar photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturing plant at its European headquarters in Tres Cantos, Madrid. [8] For phase one of the Madrid expansion, BP Solar is aiming to expand its annual cell capacity from 55 megawatts (MW) to around 300 MW. Construction of this facility is underway, with the first manufacturing line expected to be fully operational this year. [9]

The new cell lines use innovative screen-printing technology. By fully automating wafer handling, the manufacturing lines will be able to handle the very thinnest of wafers available and ensure the highest quality. [10] This is of particular importance since there has been a silicon shortage in recent years.

Since the beginning of 2007, Aleo Solar AG has also been manufacturing high-quality solar modules for the Spanish market at its own factory in Santa Maria de Palautordera near Barcelona.[11]

See also

• Renewable energy in the European Union
• Renewable energy in Germany
• Renewable energy in Portugal
• Wind power in Spain
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Renewable energy in Scotland
• Energy policy of the European Union
• Renewable energy development
• Economy of the European Union
• Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change