Ten High Ranking Officials from California Visit Spain’s Renewable Energy Sites

The Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade, ICEX, has organized a fact-finding visit from June 28 to July 3 for 10 high ranking officials from California, as the leading US state in the development of renewable energy, to reinforce the relations between Spain and the Golden State. It will also serve the purpose of allowing the participants to share best practices and know more about their respective regulatory systems to promote renewable energy.

The visit is part of ICEX´s commitment to showcase Spanish capabilities in technology products and services in the American market.  Among the activities scheduled are meetings with the Spanish Secretary of the State of Commerce, Silvia Iranzo, bilateral discussions with leading Spanish companies in the industry and guided tours of some landmark projects developed and managed by Spanish firms.

The group includes representatives from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Energy Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and L.A. City Hall and Water and Power Dpt.

Some of the highlights include visits to Acciona HQ in Madrid and the Iberdrola’s Control Center for Renewable Energy (CORE)  in Toledo. The CORE facility serves a key role in helping to integrate and manage intermittent renewables on the national grid.

This visit complements a previous one to the Control Center of Renewable Energies (CECRE) from the Spanish Grid operator, Red Electrica. CECRE is  a worldwide pioneering initiative to monitor and control these energy resources. It allows the maximum amount of production from renewable energy sources, especially wind energy, to be integrated into the power system under secure conditions with constant updates of available renewable energy. You may learn more about the CECRE through a video here.

Panoramic view of the PS10 solar power plant

The third part of the visit includes guided tours to the Solucar Solar Platform in Seville (Abengoa Solar) and the largest thermosolar power plant in Europe, Andasol, in the province of Granada, built by ACS Cobra and SENER.

FCC to invest in two thermo-solar plants in Spain

The Spanish Group FCC is planning to invest between  500 and 600 million euros in two thermosolar or CSP plants in Córdoba and Alicante (Spain) with a capacity of 50 MW each, said Baldomero Falcones, CEO of the Group, at a Shareholders’  meeting yesterday in Barcelona.

FCC will hold a 67%  interest in the project in Cordoba, where it will partner with the EPC firm Abantia. The second plant, in Alicante, will be 70 % owned by FCC with  Enerstar as a partner.  The engineering group Técnicas Reunidas will complete the project.

FCC is also stepping up its activities in energy efficiency, through its subsidiary Portland Valderribas and a possible acquisition of a company specialised in this field.

Spanish Government approves a sustainable economy fund of 20 billion euros

Spain announced on Tuesday a 20 billion euros (27 billion dollars) fund to finance sustainable development projects plus a new local investment fund with €5 billion  ($6.7 billion) of credit for local environmental works, and technological and social projects.

The state credit agency Instituto Credito Oficial would manage the fund, which would be operational from 2010, the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told the lower house of Parliament it would finance “renewable energy, restoration of buildings, non-polluting transport  and recycling”.

An example included in the package of measures is a subsidy for the renewal of non-contaminating and low consumption buses. Buses more than 10 years old will be replaced by new ones.

The government will therefore support the purchase of up to 2000 new buses. Companies will also be encouraged to provide their workers with bus passes which will result in a reduction of 24% in the cost of transportation.

Zapatero announced plans to help improve technology in schools with the purchase of 420,000 laptop computers for classrooms, wi-fi internet connection in schools, the installation of digital blackboards and training for teachers in the best use of technology for educational purposes.

Another measure announced in this package is the cut in taxes for small businesses that forgo layoffs. The tax cut would be applicable to companies with fewer than 25 employees and an annual turnover of less than 5 million euros ($6.8 million).

Albiasa Solar to build a 200 MW Concentrating Solar Power plant in Arizona

Albiasa Corporation has chosen Arizona as the new location for the renewable energy firm’s development headquarters and has selected a site near Kingman as the future location of its 200 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power (CSP) plant. Assisted by the Arizona Department of Commerce, Albiasa’s projects are expected to create up to 2,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs. The company recently opened a sales, marketing, and engineering office in Phoenix to serve as its Arizona headquarters. 

Albiasa, a Spanish company with operations in the U.S., has been in business since 1974 but began developing technology for concentrated solar power starting in 2004. The company has several photovoltaic solar plants in Spain and one 50-megawatt concentrated solar power plant  under construction.

“The arrival of Albiasa Corporation is yet another big step toward establishing Arizona as a leader in the sustainable industries sector, creating stable jobs that will help diversify our state’s economy,” said Governor Jan Brewer. “We are pleased to welcome Albiasa to Arizona, and commend the company for choosing our great state as the site for its solar plant”.

“Arizona is a natural location for our first major US project due to the solar and transmission resources,” said Jesse Tippett, Albiasa Corporation’s U.S. operations director. A good regulatory climate was also mentioned as a factor in the election of Arizona for this project.  ”We look forward to doing business here, and thank the Department of Commerce and business attraction manager Verily Keenan and Mohave County for all they have done to make us welcome.”

Albiasa Solar has worked for years in Spain to improve the parabolic trough technology, making overall operation and cost of CSP more efficient.  The Albiasa trough collector has been assessed as the most efficient parabolic trough system in the world.

“The Albiasa Kingman project involves over $1 billion capital investment and will generate annually, with molten salt thermal storage, more than 665,000 MWh of renewable solar energy when completed in 2013,” said Albert Fong, Albiasa Corporation’s Chief Project Engineer. 

The state likely will see more such projects, as the Albiasa deal is one of several that Department of Commerce officials are working on, said Kent Ennis, interim director at the department. “We hope to soon announce several projects in the state,” he said. 

The plant is the second concentrated solar power facility to choose Arizona. Abengoa Solar announced last year it is building a 280-megawatt solar plant near Gila Bend that would sell power to Arizona Public Service.

Although the plant will be located in the state, power may go elsewhere. Tippett said Albiasa is negotiating with utilities in Arizona and elsewhere about buying the power.

Air space station for the Galapagos islands with almost zero environmental impact

The IT company Indra has developed an air space surveillance station whose environmental impact has been reduced to almost zero in the Galapagos islands (Ecuador), one of the areas with the strongest environmental laws in the world.

The new facilities are equipped with a secondary radar system located on the San Joaquín hill, in San Cristobal Island. UNESCO  has designated the area as a World Heritage Site, to protect it from excessive human ecological footprint.  Two centuries ago, the island’s flora and fauna diversity contributed to shape Darwin’s  Theory of evolution.

Nowadays the archipelago is a National Park rigorously protected by Ecuador’s authorities. For this reason, Indra had to be careful in order to avoid damaging the environment. The company was extremely observant of the standards regarding electromagnetic issues as established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It also conducted a study of environmental impact prior to the works to obtain the license conferred by the country’s Ministry of the Environment and worked alongside the National Park’s technicians who supervised the works at all times.

Landscape HDR - Galapagos

That proved the way for Indra to meet all environmental requirements and overcame the added difficulty of the remoteness of the area, located at 621 miles off Ecuador’s mainland, which implies a significant amount of logistics obstacles. To deal with this, the company appointed a team of 12 people, most of them from Ecuador and others from the island itself.

The team worked for several months ensuring that accesses, materials, energy systems and equipment employed had a minimum impact on the environment. Even the colors used were chosen to make the station mimetize with the surrounding environment.

The area where the station is located is home to many species of birds, including the black neck stilt (tero), a bird that builds its nests  n the ground. Therefore, practically all systems used in the project are aerial structures mounted on poles. The main radar is enclosed in a sphere so birds do not crash against it.

Ecuador’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation is now equipped with a new system to survey Galapagos’ air space whose air traffic management depended on radio communications that also supported aircrafts in their approach to San Cristobal and Baltra airports until now. It will also control the ocean corridor that joins the archipelago with mainland completing Ecuador’s control area.

The data collected through the radar system will be distributed via VSAT satellite terminals and through a microwave link so that airports in the island and the control centres in Guayaquil are able to supervise all the traffic.

The new station will undergo an annual environmental audit to make sure standards are being met.

Alstom moves wind energy HQ to Barcelona and mulls growth in the US and Asia

French multinational company Alstom is to transfer from Switzerland to Barcelona its wind energy subsidiary, Alstom executive vice president Philippe Joubert confirmed in an interview with Spanish newspaper Expansion. The division will be set up in Ecotècnia facilities at Barcelona’s 22@ technology district. The company, which employs about a 1,000 workers, will work on its international expansion from its new headquearters, Mr. Joubert said.

Alstom has also hired business executive Alfonso Faubel who will become the CEO for Alstom Ecotècnia Wind. The French group entered the wind energy business in 2007 with the acquisition of Spanish wind turbine company Ecotècnia, in a deal valued at 350 million euros.

Why Barcelona? “It’s where we have the know-how in this business and and we need to regroup to face the difficulties of the moment,” said Joubert. “The process of integration with Ecotècnia has been completed very successfully,” added the president of Alstom in Spain, Antonio Oporto. 

Ecotècnia has installed over 1,500MW of cumulated capacity in seven countries (Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, India, Cuba and Japan). Alstom Ecotecnia has equipped or is equipping over 72 wind farms, over 50 of which are located in Spain.  Alstom Ecotècnia has also developed a wind farm construction activity in Spain that contributes to generating turbine sales.

The executive vice president of Alstom considers the current situation a good opportunity to consider purchasing opportunities in the wind business.  ”We want to double the size of Ecotècnia in the coming years”.

“We are considering multiple purchases in United States and Asia, probably in China,” said Philippe Joubert. The company is developing larger turbines for these markets. It just installed in Barcelona the first unit of its new model: Ecotècnia 100. With its 100 meter rotor diameter, the new Ecotècnia 100 turbine has a power output of 3MW. 

“The wind energy market has been the hardest hit by funding problems, but will also be the first out of the crisis,” said Oporto. “We are not yet a major player in the wind business, but we have gained many years´advantage with the purchase of Ecotècnia,” says Joubert. The subsidiary has a market share of approximately 10% in Spain, but aims to control 5% of the global market in the coming years.  

HGCapital acquires 3 Spanish solar plants from AIG Financial Products

HgCapital’s Renewable Power Partners Fund has invested in three Spanish solar photovoltaic (PV) plants with a total output of 35.5 MW. HgCapital  is the largest fund for European renewable power projects. It purchased the stake from AIG Financial Products Corp. and from 360 Corporate, a Spanish investment banking firm, for an undisclosed amount.

The Spanish portfolio includes two fixed-axis projects (17.5 MWp) and one project single-axis tracker project (18MWp). All projects qualified for the Spanish PV tariff between May and July 2008. The first two projects were developed by Proener (10 MW),  in Castile-La Mancha, and City SolarAG (7.5 MW), in Murcia. The third plant was developed by SunPower in Extremadura.

These PV projects are HgCapital’s first Spanish and first solar investments, and follows HgCapital’s pan-European and pan-technology renewable energy investment strategy. Spain is one of HgCapital’s current priority markets for renewables investment. Jens Thomassen and Luigi Pettinicchio executed the transaction for HgCapital.

Jens Thomassen said: “This is an important strategic investment for HgCapital in creating our first renewables portfolio. It extends our diversification to solar and into Spain in general, where we expect to make further strategic investments. Tightening credit conditions and falling power prices mean there will be a decline in new renewables installations in Europe so we are pleased to have invested in three plants which are operating and generating income”.

Tom Murley, head of HgCapital’s renewable energy practice said: “This is a continuation of our long-held, consistently applied strategy of investing in high quality projects across Europe. The PV projects in this investment use the best equipment and benefit from excellent solar radiation. I am also pleased at our arrangement with 360 Corporate, which adds local content and presence.”

Spain and the US to cooperate in renewable energy and energy efficiency issues

During a visit to the US last week, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Miguel Sebastián, held a meeting in Washington with the Energy Secretary, Steven Chu. During the meeting, both discussed various aspects related to energy dependence, security of supply, energy efficiency and renewable energy.

One of the topics discussed was the mutual interest in developing the Energy Services Companies, or ESCOs, industry. The U.S. government is actively promoting this industry and wants it to play an even more important role in energy efficiency. In addition, Miguel Sebastián detailed the plans in place for the adoption of electric vehicles in Spain, a mode of transportation also backed by President Obama, who has set a  goal of having a million plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015.  Spain maintained its commitment to put in circulation a million electric cars by 2014.

Sebastian stressed the Spanish position in the global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) a fuel which requires no pipelines connecting producer and consumer. Spain currently receives two thirds of its natural gas supplies through LNG tankers, as a way to diversify its sources of supply.

For his part, U.S. Secretary of Energy showed interest in the methods of CO2 sequestration and storage that are being used in Spain. In this sense, the Spanish minister elaborated about the projects implemented in the country, such as the pilot plant to be built in Compostilla (Leon).

At the same time, Sebastian conveyed to the U.S. secretary the willingness of Spain to cooperate and reach agreements with the U.S. on renewable energy issues and to help the stability of energy supply, a cooperation that would benefit both countries. Spain already has standing agreements of this sort with Russia, Morocco and Algeria. Finally, the Spanish Minister proposed the creation of a permanent working group to explore and identify areas of energy cooperation that will be launched in the coming months.

This group will exchange experiences in three key energy areas: solar, electric vehicles and biofuels. The Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate Stephen Chu, received this proposal favorably. Finally, the Spanish Minister cordially invited his U.S. counterpart to visit Spain to see for himself some of the landmark projects developed in Spain, such as the  plants in operation using pioneering solar thermal energy storage methods.

Trends in Renewable energy deals in 2008, by PWC

The first edition of Renewables Deals, an annual review by PricewaterhouseCoopers of deal-making in the renewable energy sector has some interesting conclusions:

- The impact of the credit crisis was felt in terms of value of deals dropping even though number of deals held up

- PWC sees a growing trend for deals for manufacturing and technology assets higher up the renewables value chain.

European deals, seven out of eight of which were for wind assets, dominated the 2008 renewables top ten deals table. Much of the renewables deal activity in Europe was for assets on the Iberian peninsula. Together, Portugal and Spain accounted for US$8.1bn of deal value, giving them a 55% share of European deal volume. In particular, just two Portuguese deals added US$4.2bn to the 2008 totals – the US$2.8bn float of a 25% stake in EDP Renováveis, the wind power arm of Portuguese power group EDP, and Babcock & Brown’s US$1.4bn disposal of wind farm assets.

Babcock & Brown sold several European wind farms as the parent investment group sought to reduce debt levels. In the first, Spanish infrastructure company FCC paid S$1.15bn for the company’s wind farms portfolio in Spain. Three months later, in November 2008, the Enersis portfolio of wind farms in Portugal was sold to a consortium of investors led by Magnum Capital for US$1.45bn. A second notable Spanish wind power deal saw RWE subsidiary, RWE Innogy Holdings acquire wind power operator Urvasco Energia in a deal worth US$394 million.

However, the bulk of deals in Spain, 10 out of a total of 12 transactions, were for solar assets, headed by a US$394 million purchase of Gamesa Solar by private equity firm First Reserve Corporation. Solar power deals accounted for 30% of all European renewables deals and 20% of total deal value in 2008. Spanish deals took the lion’s share of European solar deal value – US$2.1bn of the US$3.5bn total.

Nevertheless, it is wind power that dominates the European renewables deals tables, more so than any other major region, accounting for 60% of total European renewables deal value. Hydro accounted for the largest North American deal value in 2008, but this was almost entirely attributable to one deal.

After hydro power, wind and solar power delivered the highest value deal segments, accounting for $1.4 billion and $1.3 billion of deal value respectively, PWC says.

The biofuel sector delivered the largest number of North American renewables transactions–22 deals totaling $1.1 billion. Of these, 20 were in the US and the remaining two were in Canada.

The 20 North American wind power deals in 2008 were split evenly between the US and Canada, but the majority ($977 million) of the $1.4 billion total wind deal value was in the US, PwC adds.

Looking ahead, PWC sees a trend of emerging worldwide players that will come not just from the increasing involvement of large diversified players such as GE and Bosch. Already we are seeing companies from utility company origins, such as Iberdrola Renewables and EDP Renováveis, as well as renewable sector players, such as Suzlon Energy, building an increasingly global presence.

Vice President Al Gore Touts Spain’s Leadership in Energy and Infrastructure

Vice President Al Gore recognized Spain as one of the world’s top innovators of renewable energy and high-speed rail transportation.

Speaking at the Spain-U.S. Business Sustainability Conference on March 17, Gore cited improved energy and climate technologies as the key to solving three of the most pressing global issues – the global economic crisis, climate crisis and security crisis. He said that if you looked for the common thread between the three, it is an overdependence on outdated, heavily polluting carbon-based technologies.

“The convergence of the problems is very clear,” Gore said. “Green infrastructure is the option of choice to solve the climate and economic crisis. We need sources that are free forever, like the sun, wind and earth. Spain is one of the leading countries in all of these areas.”

He also stressed the close working relationship between U.S. and Spanish businesses and their role in helping speed the creation and adoption of advanced, green technology.

“Renewable energy production, high-speed transport systems and infrastructure construction and management are the best ways to stimulate the global economy and help address the climate crisis,” Gore continued. “We need leadership in both the political and business sectors. The close working relationship between Spain and the U.S. in these areas is a model for all others to follow.”

His Royal Highness, Felipe de Borbón, reiterated Spain’s political commitment to solving environmental problems, stimulating investment in these sectors, promoting business cooperation and ensuring Spain remains at the forefront of renewable technologies.

“This conference is a major milestone in the relationship between Spain and the United States, both in the private and public sectors,” said the Prince. “The idea of sustainable growth should underlie the solutions for Spain’s economy and environment. Only by working together with U.S. businesses and government as well as coordinating our needs and priorities can we get our countries, and world, back on track.”