Spanish engineering and technology group SENER is on a deal signing spree, having won several contracts for the design and supply of solar fields in Spain, including the Aste 1A and Aste 1B, Termosolar Soluz Guzmán, Consol-Orellana and La Africana plants. These fields will use the SENER trough company-patented parabolic trough collector technology.

In the Aste 1A and Aste 1B plants, located in Ciudad Real and owned by Elecnor with the participation of AMB-Umbro and Aries, SENER will be responsible for the engineering and building work of the solar field in an EPC or turnkey contract. It is a complex of two thermoelectric solar installations with parabolic trough collector technology and 50 MW of power per plant, and a total mirror surface area of 784,800 m2. SENER is participating in the design, manufacture, supply and assembly of the metal structures of the parabolic trough collectors of the 120 loops of each one of the Aste 1 plants, which are due to be commissioned by the end of 2012.

SENER has also been awarded an EPC or turnkey contract for the engineering and building work for the Termosolar Soluz Guzmán, Consol-Orellana and La Africana plants.

The Termosolar Soluz Guzmán is owned by Guzmán Energía. It is a 50MW plant located in Palma del Río (Córdoba). SENER is to participate in the design, procurement, inspection, logistics, supply, installation, assembly, commissioning and start up and testing of 96 complete loops of parabolic trough collectors.

Consol-Orellana is a plant owned by Acciona Energy, with 50MW of power and parabolic trough collector technology being built in the province of Badajoz, in the municipal district of Orellana La Vieja. In this plant, SENER is participating in the engineering, supply, and assembly of the metal structures of parabolic trough collectors for 124 loops, with the same type of scope as the Aste 1 plants.

In a separate development, a contract was recently signed for the engineering work, supply and assembly of the solar field of the La Africana plant. This new installation, also located in Palma del Río, belongs to Magtel, TSK and Ortiz. With a power of 50MW, its solar field will consist of 168 collector loops. In this case, SENER is supplying the complete loops, as in Soluz Guzmán.

Termosolar Soluz Guzmán will begin operation in the middle of 2012, while the Consol-Orellana and La Africana plants are scheduled to come online before the end of 2012. SENER now has a portfolio of 19 solar plants, for which it has provided the solar technology.