SENER has been chosen to represent Spain in the prestigious 2011 European Business Awards sponsored by HSBC. SENER was one of 25 Country Representatives and will now compete for a coveted Ruban d’Honneur in the next round of the competition. The final category Award winners will be revealed in Barcelona on 22 November 2011. The European Business Awards objective is to draw awareness to the progress of companies who excel in introducing innovation combined with successful commercial results while acting responsibly and positively affecting the social environment they operate in. SENER was chosen as a result of their Gemasolar Project, the first commercial scale solar plant in the world applying central tower molten salt receiver with molten salt storage system technology, a revolution in the concentrated solar power sector. The molten salt heat storage system allows the production of energy to continue throughout 15 hours without sunlight, during cloudy weather or at night. Due to the storage capacity, solar energy can become manageable, something which had been a pending task within the field of renewable energies. The new technology significantly increases the plant’s efficiency, offering a starting point within the cost reduction strategy in the thermosolar energy industry. This has been a key objective for both SENER and Torresol Energy in order to make clean energy a firm alternative to fossil fuels. Once in operation, Gemasolar will supply clean and safe energy to 25,000 homes, and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 30,000tns/yr.
