Largest solar power plant unveiled
2013-03-17 21:20
Madinat Zayed - Oil-rich Abu Dhabi on Sunday officially
opened the world's largest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, which cost
$600m to build and will provide electricity to 20 000 homes.
The 100-megawatt Shams 1 is "the world's largest
concentrated solar power plant in operation" said Sultan al-Jaber, the
head of Abu Dhabi's Masdar, which oversees the emirate's plan to generate 7% of
its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.
"Today, Shams 1 is the largest CSP plant in all
terms," said Santiago Seage, chief executive officer of Abengoa Solar, one
of the partners in the project.
CSP uses a system of mirrors or lenses, whereas many other
solar plants around the world use photovoltaic technology to harness solar
power.
Masdar now produces 10% of the world's concentrated solar
power, Seage said during the official inauguration.
The company's energy portfolio represents 68% of renewable
energy produced in the Gulf region, where clean energy remains at an infancy
stage.
The solar park features long lines of parabolic mirrors
spread over an area equivalent to 285 football pitches in the desert of the
Western Region, about 120km southwest of Abu Dhabi.
The 192 rows of loops collect heat that drives turbines to
generate power that would save nearly 175 000 tons of carbon dioxide every
year, equivalent to taking 15 000 cars off the road.
Automatic trucks are deployed to dust the mirrors in this
desert location where sand poses a serious challenge to the efficiency of heat
collectors. Masdar owns 60% of the project, while France's Total and Spain's
Abengoa Solar own 20% each.
Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest of the seven sheikhdoms that
make up the federation of the United Arab Emirates.
