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MASDAR City Concept
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Abu Dhabi, UAE - 10 June, 2010
Masdar Partners with Total and Abengoa Solar to build the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions, has appointed the bidding consortium of
Total and
Abengoa Solar as a partner to own, build and operate
Shams 1, the
world’s largest concentrated solar power plant and the first of its kind in the Middle East.
One of
Masdar’s flagship projects, Shams 1 will directly contribute towards
Abu Dhabi’s target of achieving 7% renewable energy power generation capacity by the year 2020.
The joint venture between Masdar (60%), Total (20%) and Abengoa Solar (20%) will develop, build, operate and maintain the plant which will be located in
Madinat Zayed, approximately 120 kilometres southwest of
Abu Dhabi in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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Photo: Total / Abengoa Solar |
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Shams 1 will be the
largest concentrated solar power plant in the world, extending over an area of 2.5 km², with a capacity of approximately
100 MW and a
solar field consisting of 768 parabolic trough collectors to be supplied by
Abengoa Solar.
Construction is set to begin during
Q3 2010 and is expected to take approximately two years.
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Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber
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Commenting on the announcement,
Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber, CEO of Masdar, said:
“The launch of Shams 1 marks a very important milestone for Masdar and for Abu Dhabi. I am very proud of the announcement we are making today because this project, which will be the first utility scale, commercial solar power project in the UAE, represents the translation into reality of the vision the Abu Dhabi leadership has for renewable energy in the Emirate. In addition, Shams 1 will allow Masdar to transfer to Abu Dhabi the know-how and expertise we have gained from our involvement in developing world-class renewable energy projects abroad, thus not only opening the door for renewable energy projects in the UAE but also for technology transfer, contributing towards the development of a knowledge-based economy and new job opportunities through the specializations required to manage and operate the plant.”
“I am delighted we are embarking on this journey together with our strategic partners Total and Abengoa Solar, both of whom have tremendous experience and technical know-how in developing projects such as Shams 1. It is through such partnerships that Masdar will succeed in developing and advancing renewable energy solutions and establish Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a world leader in renewable energy and clean technology. I would also like to thank our partners and stakeholders in Abu Dhabi – in particular ADWEA, ADNOC and the Regulation & Supervision Bureau – for their collaboration and support and our shareholder Mubadala for its backing and guarantee of Masdar’s share of the project ,”
Al-Jaber continued.
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MASDAR City Concept
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“By participating in this ambitious project alongside Masdar and Abengoa Solar, Total develops its solar energy assets, enriches its portfolio of expertise with this first step in concentrated solar technology, and reaffirms its unique partnership with Abu Dhabi,” commented
Philippe Boisseau, President, Total Gas & Power.
“We are pleased to be partnered with Abu Dhabi, a country we have been working with for more than 70 years, in its pursuit of energy diversification and to contribute to the Masdar initiative, which promotes the development of renewable energies.”
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MASDAR City Concept
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Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar, also expressed his satisfaction:
“We have teamed with the most qualified partners in the region, Total and Masdar, to own and operate what will be the most advanced solar plant, featuring our cutting-edge technology.”
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MASDAR City Concept
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In turn,
Michael Geyer, Abengoa Solar’s Director of International Development, highlighted the immense potential of building large-scale solar plants in the
Middle East, a region that offers both an unlimited solar resource and infinite site locations for implementation of solar plants in its deserts.
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Photo: Abengoa Solar |
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Shams 1 is registered as a project under the
United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and is eligible for
carbon credits.
It is be the
first CSP plant registered under the CDM and the second project registered for
Masdar.
The plant will displace approximately
175,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to planting
1.5 million trees or removing
15,000 cars from
Abu Dhabi’s roads.
About the Technology
Based on
Abengoa Solar’s best-in-class solar technology, the
Shams 1 technology is unique. It is the result of a strong technical cooperation between
Masdar, Total and
Abengoa Solar.
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Photo: Total / Abengoa Solar |
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Focused sunlight, concentrated by mirrors, heats a coolant which then generates high-pressure steam that drives a conventional steam turbine.
It generates
solar thermal electricity, an efficient, reliable and clean solution.
Concentrating Solar Power
Operating principle: generally speaking,
CSP technology is based in
solar radiation concentration to produce steam or hot air which could then be used in conventional electric plants.
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Photo: Total / Abengoa Solar |
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Solar energy capture, which has a relatively low density, is one of the main challenges in the development of solar plants.
For concentration, most concentrating systems use mirrors with high reflectivity
Main components
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Concentrator: different optical elements as mirrors, concentrate the solar rays on a point or a line where the receiver is located
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Receiver: the receiver collects the concentrated solar rays and transfers the energy to a heat transfer fluid
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Evaporator: In the evaporator the heat transfer fluid heats the water which becomes steam
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Turbine: the steam moves the turbine which produces electricity as in conventional methods.
About MASDAR
Masdar is Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions.
The company serves as a link between today’s fossil fuel economy and the energy economy of the future - developing the “
greenprint” for how we will live and work tomorrow.
Backed by the stability and reputation of the
Mubadala Development Company, an investment vehicle of the
government of Abu Dhabi,
Masdar is dedicated to the emirate’s long-term vision for the future of energy.
For more information, please visit:
www.masdar.ae
About Total
Total is one of the world’s major oil and gas groups, with activities in more than 130 countries.
Its
97,000 employees put their expertise to work in every part of the industry –
exploration and production of oil and natural gas, refining and marketing, gas & power and trading.
Total is working to keep the world supplied with energy, both today and tomorrow.
The Group is also a first rank player in chemicals.
Total has been active in solar energy since 1983 through its interests in two companies,
Photovoltech and
Tenesol.
Photovoltech, in which
Total holds a 50% interest alongside
GDF-Suez, produces photovoltaic cells based on a crystalline silicon technology.
Tenesol, in which
Total holds a 50% stake alongside
EDF, specializes in designing, manufacturing, marketing and operating
photovoltaic solar energy systems.
In December 2008,
Total became the largest shareholder in
U.S. start-up Konarka, which develops products based on
organic solar technologies.
Total’s stake is now nearly 25%.
Total is also conducting significant
R&D through partnerships with world-class laboratories in
France, such as the
Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et des Couches Minces (LPICM - Interface and Thin Film Physics Laboratory) at the Ecole Polytechnique engineering school and the Toulouse-based Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), as well as in the
United States, Switzerland, Belgium and
Germany.
About Abengoa Solar
Abengoa Solar (
www.abengoasolar.com ) focuses its activities on the development and application of technology for generating electrical power with the sun.
Abengoa Solar has 493 megawatts in operation and construction using
trough, tower and photovoltaic technologies and is developing
several thousand more in several regions around the world.
Abengoa Solar is developing Europe’s largest solar complex in Spain.
The Solúcar Platform is the only place in the world where most existing solar technologies can be found, either in commercial use or for demonstration purposes.
Continuously investing in
R&D, the
company develops its own technology in both parabolic trough and solar power tower.
With the
worldwide first and second commercial solar power towers PS10 and
PS20 and its two first commercial parabolic trough plants,
Solnova 1 and 3, Abengoa Solar has pioneered in a new revolutionary technology able to deliver efficient
clean solar power.
Abengoa is a technology company that applies innovative solutions for sustainability in the infrastructure, environmental and energy sectors.
The company is listed on the
Spanish stock exchange and is present in more than seventy countries, in which it operates through its
five Business Units: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies and
Industrial Engineering and Construction.
http://www.abengoasolar.com/corp/web/en/index.html
ASTROMAN Magazine - 2010.06.12
Masdar City
http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=739