Wind Energy

Mitsui Participates in Concentrating Solar Power Project in Spain

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui" head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Masami Iijima) has agreed with Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, S.A. ("FCC") to participate in a concentrating solar power (CSP) project in Palma del Rio (Cordoba), Spain, through its subsidiary Mitsui Renewable Energy Europe. Plc. ("MREE").

The Share Purchase Agreement and Shareholders’ Agreement were signed on 4th November, 2010, where the acquisition of 30% shares of Guzman Energia, S.L. ("Guzman"), a special purpose company which holds the development rights for a CSP plant and which is owned by FCC Energia, S.A. ("FCCE"), a subsidiary of FCC is expected to occur by the end of the year.

This concentrated solar energy plant is utilizing a parabolic trough system, and will have about 50 MW of generation capacity, where the electricity generated by the plant will be sold to the grid under the Spanish feed-in-tariff scheme. This plant is expected to produce sufficient energy to meet the needs of 26,000 households. The construction has started in July 2010, and commercial operation is scheduled to start in December 2012. The total cost of this project is approximately 260 million euros, and Mitsui and FCC will negotiate with banks to raise funds through a project finance loan.

A parabolic trough system is based on solar tracking and concentration of sunlight. Sunlight is concentrated on the pipes positioned along the focal line of the solar collectors which have parabolic-shaped mirrors. A heat-transfer fluid circulates through inside of the pipes and is heated up about 400°C by the concentrated sunlight, and the heat of the fluid is exchanged as steam through heat exchangers. The heat of this steam is turned into electrical energy inside a conventional steam turbine. This plant will reduce CO2 emissions by 30,000 tonnes per year.

Mitsui currently owns a photovoltaic (PV) power station (1.5 MW) and 18 hydro power stations (total 84 MW) in Spain through a joint venture with its partners, and this project will add another key asset to our portfolio. The total global generation capacity currently held by Mitsui is about 6,000 MW. Mitsui recognizes the need to deliver solutions for global environmental issues and is actively seeking to be involved in renewable energy projects in other countries besides in Spain.

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