PRESS RELEASE
SENER and Torresol Energy walk away with four of the eight CSP Today
Awards thanks to Gemasolar
Seville, November 29th - The SENER engineering and technology group and its joint venture with Masdar,
Torresol Energy, were recognized with awards at the fifth annual CSP Today International Concentrated
Solar Thermal Power Summit, which was held on November 29 and 30 in Seville and brought together
professionals from the solar power industry.
On the evening of the 28th, the event's gala ceremony was held where awards were handed out to the
most outstanding CSP companies for 2011. SENER and Torresol Energy walked away with four of the eight
prizes awarded by the organization. Specifically, SENER received the awards for "Engineering Firm 2011",
"Increased Dispatchability Solution 2011"; for its part, Torresol Energy was awarded in the categories
"Commercialized Technology Innovation 2011" and "Most Effective Project Development 2011".
These awards are yet another acknowledgment of the effort made by both companies to make solar
power more efficient and more competitive. SENER is the world leader in the solar thermal power sector,
as much for its high-tech development as for the number of projects in its pipeline, which exceeds 20
plants in Spain, in the US, and in India. Seven of these plants are already in commercial operation,
including Gemasolar, an innovative project led by Torresol Energy, a joint venture between SENER and
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s holistic and progressive renewable energy company. Torresol Energy is a company
that specializes in technological development, construction, operation and maintenance of large
concentrated solar power plants around the world, and which currently has the innovative Gemasolar
plant in operation along with two other plants about to go on line.
By launching into commercial operation in May of 2011, the Gemasolar power plant became the most
innovative solar plant in the world, signifying a milestone in the solar power industry, as these awards
clearly demonstrate. Gemasolar, located in Fuentes de Andalucía in Seville, is the first commercial plant
in the world with central tower receiver and molten salt thermal storage technology. This system can
continue producing energy for 15 hours at full power without sunlight. Solar power thus becomes a source
of manageable energy capable of supplying networks based on demand, regardless of whether it is day or
night or if the weather is cloudy.
Gemasolar's numerous technological advances have opened the door to new production technology
that may represent the best of all the possible alternatives in this sector due to it having the best
potential for technological development, and the greatest potential for reducing power production costs.
Gemasolar will thus be considered to be a technological model for the successful development of future
plants. Its social and industrial impact has been so phenomenal that the plant was officially launched by
two royal families: by His Majesty the King of Spain and His Highness General Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed
Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
SENER supplied all of the technological innovations and the engineering for Gemosolar, in addition to
leading the plant's construction, start up and commissioning works. Thus far, SENER is the only company
in the world that has been able to develop a project with these characteristics. It also bears mentioning
that the company has recently been awarded, mainly due to this innovative project, the top European
Further information:
Oihana Casas. Communication Office. SENER Tel (+34) 91 807 7318 / 679 314 085
www.sener.es
Business Award for Innovation, where it beat out nine other finalist companies in an extensive selection
process that began in May 2011 and which involved competition from over 15,000 European companies.
About SENER
SENER is a private engineering and technology group founded in 1956 in Bilbao, which seeks to offer its clients the most
advanced technological solutions and which enjoys international recognition, thanks to its independence and its commitment to
innovation and quality. SENER has a workforce of more than 5,000 professionals and a turnover of 1,066 million Euros.
SENER engages in the specific activities of engineering, and also has industrial holdings in companies involved in Energy and
Environment, as well as Aerospace. The Engineering Division, SENER Ingeniería y Sistemas, S.A. is an engineering, construction
and systems integration company which has become one of the leading Spanish engineering firms, with a turnover of more than
624 million Euros, around 2,000 employees and offices in Abu Dhabi, Algiers, Barcelona, Bilbao, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Madrid,
Mexico City, Okayama, San Francisco, Seville, Valencia and Warsaw.
About Torresol Energy
Torresol Energy, an alliance between the companies SENER and MASDAR, was created with the purpose of becoming a leader
in the concentrated solar power (CSP) sector, with the goal of promoting technological development and operating large
concentrated solar power plants around the world, especially in the so-called “solar belt”: Southern Europe, including Spain,
Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Southwestern USA.
Every new Torresol Energy project will introduce and test new technologies with SENER’s support in order to make
Concentrated Solar Power an economically competitive option and thus make it a real, viable, ecological and sustainable
alternative to traditional energy. In this regard, the protection of the environment for future generations is one of Torresol
Energy's core commitments.
The company currently has one solar plant in operation: the 19.9 MW Gemasolar plant with central tower and heliostat field
technology located in Fuentes de Andalucía, Seville, and also has two other plants about to begin commercial operation: Valle 1
and Valle 2, twin 50 MW installations with parabolic trough technology located in San José del Valle, Cádiz.
Links:
www.sener.es; www.torresolenergy.com; www.csptoday.com
Further information:
Oihana Casas. Communication Office. SENER Tel (+34) 91 807 7318 / 679 314 085
www.sener.es