Spanish Solar Power

Well, the United States has lost its status as the world's biggest producer of solar power

. A contender on the Iberian peninsula has now grabbed the top spot; with the opening of a huge, ambitious solar plant in its western Badajoz region, Spain has pushed its solar production to 432 megawatts.

Spain's new solar plant, called La Florida, is located near Alvarado. It covers 550,000 square metres and supplies about 50 megawatts of power. La Florida is a parabolic trough, a design that uses a parabolic mirror to reflect sunlight onto a fluid-filled tube. The fluid is then used to produce steam, which turns the plant's turbines. As the sun moves across the sky, the mirror moves with it to keep its rays on the trough.

It's hardly surprising that Spain can harness the sun's energy so effectively. The country has been a big player in the field of renewable energy for years, and it makes extensive use of wind and hydroelectric power. With numerous dams on the Ebro and other rivers, only China and the U.S. have more. In the north, the Navarra province already meets 75% of its energy needs with renewable resources. It's a sparsely populated area, and that surely helps, but 75% is still an impressive figure.

The climate of the Iberian peninsula makes sunlight a plentiful, and valuable, resource. There is no London Fog here, and the gray skies of the North Sea give way to Mediterranean sunshine. Spain has an average of 340 days of sunshine per year, so Spanish solar power is often more dependable than wind. Spanish leaders have been promoting sustainable energy and supporting it with subsidies; in 2009 almost 3% of Spain's power came from solar plants, and about 13% from all renewable sources.

La Florida's 50 megawatts are just a humble start to Spain's long-term energy goals. The Spanish government intends to increase that 13% to 22.7% by 2020 with a plan that is actually a little bit ahead of the EU's targets. As more plants come on-line and Spain's solar tech gets better, the nation's capacity for solar power production is growing.

According to Protermosolar, the interest group that speaks for Spain's solar energy sector, another 600 megawatts of Spanish solar power will be available within the next year. Spain is already the world's fourth largest manufacturer of solar power equipment, and exports of renewable energy technology are extremely valuable to the country's economy. The tech can only improve, and Spain's total production of solar power is expected to reach 2,500 megawatts by 2013.

by: Marcus Gallon

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