Acciona opens its first CSP plant in Spain

Weekly Intelligence Brief

Acciona opens its first CSP plant in Spain

30 July 2009

Acciona has opened its first CSP plant in Spain, located in the municipality of Alvarado (Badajoz).

The €236 million, 50MW Alvarado I plant is the first CSP facility to come into operation in the Extremadura region. The 130-hectare Alvarado facility has 184,320 mirrors aligned in rows and 768 solar collectors. The plant uses parabolic cylinder technology.

Construction on the plant began in February last year.

The company has strengthened its CSP portfolio, which also includes the Nevada Solar One CSP plant in the US. It has been in operation since June 2007.

The company has three other plants currently under construction in Spain: one in Majadas de Tiétar (Cáceres) and two in Palma del Río (Cordoba). Each one will have an installed capacity of 50 MW, which means that the company will have a total of 200MW in CSP operating in Spain, in addition to the existing 64 MW installed capacity in the US. The company is also preparing for its fifth CSP plant -Alvarado II, again with a capacity of 50 MW.

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