Torresol Energy, a joint venture between Masdar and SENER announced the commissioning of its flagship 19.9MW Gemasolar Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in Seville, Spain. Featuring a central tower receiver with thermal storage capabilities, this plant is the world’s first commercial-scale CSP plant that will supply electricity to 25,000 homes in the Andalucía region of Spain. It is expected that the plant will save over 30,000tns of CO2 emission per year. The innovative molten salt heat transfer technology installed at the Gemasolar greenfield independent power project helps avoid fluctuations in power supply using a system capable of generating 15 hours of energy production without sunlight. This allows for generation of electricity 24 hours a day for several months of the year. The plant is made consists of 2650 heliostats (mirrors) that stretch approximately 185 hectares. The system can reach temperatures over 900 degrees Centigrade at the central receiver at the top of the tower. Using molten salt as a heat transfer medium capable of reaching temperatures above 500 degrees, the tower technology delivers hotter and more pressurized steam to the turbine than parabolic trough technology. SENER provided the technology, the engineering detail design and part of the EPC and commissioning works of the plant.
