Israeli-Spanish thermo-solar power station developer Ener-T Global Ltd. and Spainish renewable energy company Grupo Enhol will jointly build thermo-solar power stations in Spain, based on Ener-T’s parabolic troughs. The companies will own the power stations through the joint subsidiary and jointly sell the electricity.
Solel Solar Systems Ltd. of beit Shemesh has similar technology that competes with Ener-T. Both companies were founded by former managers of Luz and both companies’ technology is based on technology developed by Luz.
Ener-T said that it and Enhol would initially build two 50-megawatt power stations for €600 million. The first power station will be built in the Extremadura province in southwest Spain, which enjoys strong sun and a suitable climate. Ener-T will provide the technology and manage construction as a turn key project. Leading Spanish contractors will build the power station, which will take 18 months to build after the licenses are obtained. Ener-T predicts that the power station will come on line in 2009, after which construction of the second power station will begin.
Ener-T offers a range of turn key services for the construction of thermo-solar power stations. The company’s business office is located in southern Spain and is supported by technology from Israel. The company’s staff includes scientists and engineers who led the original development of Luz’s parabolic troughs, used in the construction of 354-megawatt thermo-solar power stations, known as Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS). These SEGS have been successfully operating in California’s Mojave Desert for more than 20 years.
Ener-T co-CEO and CTO Yehuda Harats and co-CEO and CFO Daniel Adam run the company. Harats invented and developed the HCE evacuated absorber, the core of the parabolic trough technology, and Yehoshua Mor designed the modern parabolic trough collector commonly in use.
Solel Solar is also very active in Spain. In November, it signed a cooperation agreement with Grupo Sacyr Vallehermoso SA (IBEX:SYV) to build three solar power stations with a total capacity of 150 megawatts at an investment of $890 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 17, 2007
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