ACCIONA CSP plant in Majadas (Cáceres, Spain) to become operational in fall 2010

The Extremadura region's Minister of Industry visits the construction work on the 241m euro plant.

ACCIONA's CSP (solar thermal electric) plant at Majadas de Tiétar (Cáceres), on which construction work started in March this year, will become operational in fall 2010. Confirmation came today when José Luis Navarro, Regional Minister of Energy and the Environment of the region of Extremadura, visited the construction work on the plant. The 50 MW capacity facility represents an investment of over 241 million euros and is the second built by ACCIONA in Extremadura after the Alvarado I (Badajoz) facility, which will enter service next summer.

After seeing the progress of the construction work for himself, the Minister presided over an institutional ceremony held on the site. Around 100 guests attended the speeches made by the Regional Minister, the Mayor of Majadas, Aniceto González; and José Monzonís, General Manager of ACCIONA Energy's thermal solar electric business.

Clean electricity for 32,000 homes

The Majadas facility is based on parabolic trough technology, similar to the type the company successfully tested at its Nevada Solar One facility (USA), operational since June 2007.

The Majadas plant will have a solar field of 333 acres (equivalent to 189 soccer pitches). It will house 792 solar concentrators comprising a total 190,080 mirrors, making up nearly 48 linear miles.

Once operational, the plant will produce clean energy equivalent to the consumption by 31,800 homes and will avoid the emission of around 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year to the atmosphere from conventional coal-fired power stations.

The project will create around 350 direct jobs in the construction phase and 31 in the operation and maintenance of the facility once it is operational, plus a large number of indirect and induced jobs, mainly in the north of Cáceres province.

Second CSP plant in Extremadura

The Majadas CSP plant is the second built by ACCIONA in Extremadura after Alvarado I (Badajoz).
The company is also building two other plants in Spain (also with a capacity of 50 MW each) in Palma del Río (Córdoba); these will enter service in 2010. By the end of the year ACCIONA will have four plants operational in the country, with a total capacity of 200 MW.

ACCIONA is also at an advanced stage in the administrative process for the authorization of another CSP plant in Extremadura: Alvarado II, with 50 MW capacity. It will be the third such facility to be installed by the company in the region.

About ACCIONA Energy

ACCIONA Energy is a world leader in the field of renewables. It has installed over 6,000 MW of wind power capacity in 208 windparks in 14 countries and manufactures wind turbines using in-house technology. It has thermal solar (CSP) and photovoltaic plants, small hydro power stations and biomass plants. It also owns and operates facilities that produce biodiesel and bioethanol.

ACCIONA Energy is part of the ACCIONA Group, one of Spain's major corporations with activities in over thirty countries in five continents. It works in the field of infrastructures, energy, water and services, with revenues of €12.665 billion in 2008. ACCIONA's workforce numbers over 41,000 and the company is listed on the selective IBEX-35 (ANA.MC) stock index in Spain.