Solar Millennium Solar wins CSP feasibility study tender in El Salvador

Together with a local partner, Milenio Solar will analyze the technical, legal and financial framework needed for a public-private investment structure for a parabolic through power plant or concentrating solar power in El Salvador.

The scope of the feasibility study will cover inter alia others the proposal for a solar thermal power plant configuration and a recommendation of a power off-take concept as well as the layout of an Investment public-private structure. In addition to the consulting study, the Solar Millennium Group will provide and maintain Meteo-stations for the acquisition of meteorological data at three potential sites in El Salvador.

CEL and INE will contribute with this feasibility study as a first example to the Master Plan for the development of renewable energies of El Salvador’s Energy Council (Consejo Nacional de Energía, CNE). Since 2007 the government of El Salvador aims at diversifying its energy sources, mainly through renewable energy sources to reduce its dependency on oil and its Greenhouse gas emissions in the mid-term.

Christian Beltle, Member of Solar Millennium AG´s Executive Board, stated: "We are very pleased about this opportunity to use the extensive expertise and long-time experience we gained through the realisation of the Andasol solar thermal power plants in Spain now for the further development of renewable energies in El Salvador."

Marcello Formica, Managing Director of Milenio Solar Desarrollo de Proyectos: "This feasibility study is also a good starting point for an early entry into the Latin-American market in which we would like to take the role as first mover in the future like we did in the Spanish market."

Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, is an international company in the renewable energy sector, with its main focus on solar-thermal power plants. Together with its subsidiaries and associates, the Company specializes in parabolic trough power plants and has managed to take a globally leading position in this field.

Solar Millennium strives to further extend its expertise in the area of solar-thermal power plants with the aim of achieving and securing sustainable technology leadership. As such, the Company covers all important business sectors along the value chain for solar-thermal power plants: from project development and financing to the technology and the turnkey construction and operation of power plants.

In Spain, Solar Millennium developed Europe’s first parabolic trough power plants and realized these together with partners. Additional projects are planned around the world with an overall capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts: here the current regional focus is on Spain, the US, India, China, the Middle East and North Africa.

Solar-thermal power plants generate electricity by converting solar radiation into heat energy. In a parabolic trough power plant, trough-shaped mirrors concentrate the incidental radiation onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. Its absorption heats a fluid heat medium in the pipe, generating steam in the power block through a heat exchanger. As in conventional power plants, the steam powers a turbine to generate electricity. By integrating thermal storage, electricity can be supplied on demand, even after sunset.

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