The firm is also the first Spanish company that will be located in the sustainable cleantech cluster in Abu Dhabi

Madrid, 16 February 2010 – SENER, a leading international multidiscipline engineering company, announced today it has become the first engineering firm and the first Spanish entity to register a local subsidiary in Masdar City, the emerging clean-technology cluster in Abu Dhabi.

Masdar City, which aims to be one of the most sustainable cities in the world, is building a global community of renewable energy and cleantech companies, organisations, NGOs and institutions, including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The city is the flagship project of Masdar, the renewable energy company wholly owned by the Mubadala Development Company.

The move to Masdar City confirms SENER’s commitment to the development of renewable energy projects and sustainable architecture in the Middle East, and builds on a presence it has had in Abu Dhabi since 2009 in order to pursue engineering opportunities in Abu Dhabi, the rest of the United Arab Emirates and the wider region, in the fields of power and process, civil infrastructure and architecture, marine and aerospace.

Pedro Mugarra, SENER Managing Director in Abu Dhabi, said, “The decision to locate in Masdar City it is not only motivated by the engineering opportunities across all of SENER’s business units in the region, but also by the company’s commitment to the development of renewable energy, particularly those in the fields of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Waste to Energy, where we are a leader in providing efficient and innovative solutions. With the aim of making these technologies ever-more competitive compared to traditional sources, SENER maintains ongoing collaboration with research and development organisations such as Masdar Institute, which is located in Masdar City.”

Alan Frost, Director of Masdar City, said, “We are pleased to welcome SENER to Masdar City, not only because of their existing relationship with Masdar and leadership in the engineering and renewables industry, but also because they reflect our goal of bringing together organisations from around the world that operate in a range of fields but all have specialisations in clean technology and renewable energy. In so doing, we provide not only a world-class work and living environment, but also create a rich industry cluster ecosystem that generates productivity and innovation gains to resident companies.”

SENER and Masdar are joint venture partners in Torresol Energy, a Spain-headquartered company that seeks to be a global leader in the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) sector. SENER owns 60% and Masdar owns 40% of the JV Company.

The first buildings within Masdar City are set for delivery in the third quarter of 2010 and are part of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology campus. Phase 1 of the city’s development is set for completion by 2013, with the first commercial buildings, in which SENER’s offices will be located, is due for completion earlier. Until then, SENER is operating from temporary modern offices near Masdar City.

Masdar City seeks to be a global centre for innovation, research, product development and light manufacturing in the fields of renewable energy and sustainable technologies. The city will use renewable energy to supply its needs. Electricity will be generated by photovoltaic panels, while cooling will be provided by concentrated solar power and waste-to-energy, among other technologies.

Leading multinationals in the cleantech sector, small- and medium-sized enterprises, entrepreneurial start-ups, venture capital funds, multilateral organizations and business service firms, as well as retailers, restaurants, hospitals, schools and hotels will located at Masdar City, while thousands of residents will live there.

The financing obtained totalled €540 million over 20 years. The seven financial institutions acted as “Mandated Lead Arrangers” in this agreement, which guarantees the construction of the twin Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants — the total investment for which reaches €700 million — and which will be completed by 2011. Once operational, the plants will have a thermal storage system with a capacity of over 7.5 hours, they will supply safe, clean energy to 80,000 households, and will reduce CO2 emissions by 90,000 tonnes per year.

The Project Finance awards are the first in the industry, and began 11 years ago. On average, 300-350 of the best deals for a given year are entered for the awards, selecting the best in different industrial sectors. Torresol Energy has won the award in the ‘Clean Technology’ category, where the innovative technology of the Valle 1 and Valle 2 solar plants has been recognised.

The financing of the Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants is in addition to that obtained previously for Torresol Energy’s flagship project, the Gemasolar solar thermal plant, which obtained dual financial backing in November 2008, from various banking institutions, and in November 2009 from the EIB. Work on the construction of this plant in Seville, with 17 MW of power and a production of 110 GWh per year, is progressing on schedule. With these three solar thermal projects, Torresol Energy has made total investments of €1,000 million over the last year.

The award goes to the Gemasolar thermosolar plant that Torresol Energy is building in Fuentes de Andalucía, in the province of Seville, the first commercial plant in the world with tower and main receiver technology that uses the molten salt storage system. Gemasolar presents multiple innovations, developed by SENER, which make it a ground-breaking plant, including the solar field that surrounds the tower to improve the performance of the 2,650 heliostats; the salt system, used as a heat transfer liquid and as a storage system, the latter boasting 15 hours of capacity; the high performance two axes drive for heliostats; a complex system of control of the plant’s main subsystems; a receiver whose thermal power is three times that which is used in other solar projects; and a pumping system capable of raising the salts 140 metres at temperatures of 565°. Moreover, plant operation is guaranteed for 25 years. Gemasolar opens up the way for a new thermosolar generation technology, as it will serve as a model for other plants with salt receiver towers, whose technology is clean and reliable, is relatively low-cost, and has the ability to produce electricity for major peaks in demand and the potential to cover the country’s growing needs. For all these breakthroughs, Torresol Energy was awarded the CSP Today award. 

Torresol Energy played an active part at this event with the intervention of the Technology Director, Juan Ignacio Burgaleta, with the presentation "Gemasolar: Tower and molten salt receiver technology".

SENER is also participating with a sample of the real part of the two axes drive for heliostats. Furthermore, SENER engineer Soledad Garrido will be participating today in the round table session with the talk entitled ‘CSP supply chain in depth – the key development".

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