Alvarado I (former La Risca project) is a large solar thermal power station in Alvarado, province of Badajoz, in Extremadura, Spain. Construction on the plant commenced in December 2007 and was completed in July 2009, when commercial operations began. Built by the Spanish company Acciona Energy, it has an installed capacity of 50 MWe[3][4][5] and lays next to the La Florida solar thermal power station.

Alvarado I
Map
CountrySpain
LocationAlvarado, Badajoz
Coordinates38°49′37″N 6°49′34″W / 38.8269°N 6.8261°W / 38.8269; -6.8261
StatusOperational
Commission dateJuly 2009
Owner(s)ContourGlobal[1][2]
Solar farm
TypeCSP
CSP technologyParabolic trough
Collectors768
Total collector area352,854 square metres (3,798,090 sq ft)
Site resource2,174 kWh/m2/yr
Thermal power station
Secondary fuelNatural gas (backup)
Site area135 hectares (330 acres)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity50 MW
Annual net output105.2 GW·h

The facility is built on a 1 km2 (0.4 sq mi) site with a solar resource of 2,174 KWh/m2/year, producing an estimated 105,200 MWh of electricity per year (an average power of 12 MW). The plant uses parabolic trough technology, and is made up of 768 solar thermal collectors, with an output temperature of 393 °C (739 °F), transferred with Biphenyl and Diphenyl oxide heat transfer agents.[3]

A second 50 MWe facility, Alvarado II, is currently on the proposal stage. It is planned to be constructed in the same area as Alvarado I.[4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ ACCIONA sells its solar thermal assets in Spain to ContourGlobal
  2. ^ Concentrated Solar Power Spain
  3. ^ a b Alvarado I Solar Power Project, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), U.S. Department of Energy, April 30, 2009, retrieved 2010-05-28
  4. ^ a b Acciona Energy: Annual Report 2008 (PDF), p. 12, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-07, retrieved 2010-05-02
  5. ^ Acciona Reports #43 (PDF), p. 6, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-17, retrieved 2010-05-02