Abengoa

Abengoa was selected by the Ministry of Energy of the Chilean Government and Corfo (Corporacion de Fomento de la Produccion) to develop a $1 billion, 110-MW solar plant using tower technology with 17.5 hours of thermal energy storage using molten salts. The project will be located in the Atacama Desert and will be the first solar-thermal plant for direct electricity production in South America. Construction is due to start in the second half of 2014.

Abengoa announced that Solana, the world´s largest parabolic trough plant and also the first solar plant in the United States with thermal energy storage, has successfully passed commercial operation tests. A thermal energy storage system allows Solana to generate electricity for six hours without the concurrent use of the solar field. This technology consists of parabolic shaped mirrors mounted on structures that track the sun and concentrate the sun's heat, later transforming water into steam and powering a conventional steam turbine.

Imperial Irrigation District (IID) chose Abengoa for a power transmission project that includes the upgrade of a 230kV transmission line, as well as substations in the state of California. The “Path 42” project is part of a plan to extend the power network being developed by Imperial Irrigation District in order to increase the capacity of the network and enable access to new sources of renewable energy in California.

Abengoa and BrightSource Energy signed an agreement to jointly develop, build, and operate what the companies say will be the world’s two largest solar power towers at a site in California. The companies expect jointly to permit and finance the 500-MW Palen Solar Electric Generating System. Abengoa will build the plants as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, and will lead the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the plants once online. BrightSource will provide the solar field technology and plant design.