Torresol Energy gets $760m to build solar plants in Spain

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The world's emerging solar power developer, Torresol Energy, which is partly owned by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, or Masdar, has obtained $760 million in project finance for its two concentrated Solar Power plants being set up in Spain. A joint venture between SENER, Spain's multidiscipline engineering company, and Masdar, Terresol is building twin Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants of 50 megawatt capacity Valle 1 and Valle 2 in Andalucia, Spain.Seven Spanish banks have provided $760 million in a club deal spanning 20 years at LIBOR plus 300 basis points, in a $1 billion project. Both partners will put in $240 million as equity to the project according to their shareholding. The project with an Internal Rate of Return of less ten per cent was conceived in March 2009. "It is the first time that twin thermo solar plants have been built simultaneously. Both plants incorporate energy solutions developed by SENER, including molten salt thermal storage capacity of up to 7.5 hours," said Enrique Sendagorta, Chairman of Terresol Energy, at a Press conference here on Tuesday. The plants will be capable of generating electricity at night and during poor sunlight, enabling a continuous supply of electricity and overcoming intermittency, one of the drawbacks of some renewable technologies, he said.Valle 1 & 2, together with the Gemasolar Central Tower Plant of 17MW/ 110GWh per year, which was project financed in November 2008, and continues to progress construction as expected, represents a total investment by Torresol Energy of $1.4 billion across 3 CSP projects over the past 12 months. In the medium-term, Torresol Energy plans to build at least two CSP plants each year, introducing and testing new technologies in order to turn CSP into an economically competitive and viable alternative to traditional power sources. The main aim of Torresol Energy's research activities is to drive down the costs of power generation, said its chairman Enrique Sendagorta.Speaking on the announcement, Sendagorta said that with a combined production of 340GWh per annum, which equates to the clean and safe energy for over 80,000 homes and a saving of 90,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions every year, the two projects will be leaders in the delivery of concentrated solar power and a major contribution to the region's power supply. The Chief Executive Officer Masdar, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, said that the projects currently under construction in Spain will introduce and test new technologies, which will help promote CSP as an economically-competitive and viable alternative to traditional power sources.By Haseeb Haider