Solar Thermal Power Plant Components cross Europe for Andasol 3 Project

The condenser for the power plant block of the Andasol 3 Solar Thermal power project arrived at the building site near La Calahorra on Monday. Also the turbine for the Andasol 3 power plant has already reached the Mediterranean coast in the south of Spain. At the same time, the generator that was built in Great Britain is being prepared for its journey. Together, the three power plant components as well as the corresponding equipment weigh some 565 tons – a great challenge for those, who are responsible for the logistics.

The condenser with a weight of more than 100 tons and a length of 14 meters was loaded onto a 36 meter heavy load vehicle in Italy a few days ago, from where it traveled to Valencia in the south of Spain per ferry. Yesterday, the condenser made the last leg of the journey on the highway from Almeria towards Granada. Following final acceptance at the plant of MAN Diesel & Turbo in the German city of Oberhausen, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, the turbine components, especially the high and low pressure engines, are also heading for Andasol 3. From the Mediterranean port of Almeria, heavy load vehicles will transport them to the power plant site. The turbine was specifically developed and optimized for use in the Andasol 3 project.

A difference in altitude of more than 1,000 meters has to be overcome on the roughly 100 kilometers between the Mediterranean port of Almeria and the power plant site, which is located on the plateau of Guadix. In the meantime everything has been prepared for the arrival and the installation of the components at the Andasol 3 building site. The solar power plant is scheduled for grid connection in mid-2011.

About Solar Millennium AG:

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.

About solar-thermal power plant technology:

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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