A Spanish-Japanese venture starts FCC’s first solar power plant in southern Spain

Solar plant Guzmán

After two years, FCC has completed the construction of its first solar thermal power plant in Spain. The Guzmán plant, in Palma del Río (province of Córdoba), was inaugurated by Antonio Ávila, minister for the Economy in the Andalusian regional government, and Eduardo González, general manager of FCC Energía. The plant is today fully operational.

FCC, the Citizen Services Group, created a 70:30 joint venture with Japanese company Mitsui to build the plant (50 MW), which cost around 280 million euro and involved more than 500 workers at its peak.

At the inauguration, Antonio Ávila, minister for the Economy in the Andalusian regional government highlighted that “the effects of this project, in local and overall terms, on advancing towards energy sustainability as a source of wealth and growth.”

He also noted that Andalusia is the leading region in Spain in terms of solar thermal power facilities, with 950 MW operational (61% of the total in Spain), and it exports that technology through innovative R&D projects, which are then developed at Andalusian universities and at the Solar Platform and the Advanced Technology Centre for Renewable Energy, both in Almería.

Córdoba is the second Andalusian province in terms of installed solar thermal capacity, accounting for 31% of the regional total.

“Guzmán represents a milestone for FCC because it exemplifies our progress in renewable energies. We headed the development, funding, construction and operation of the plant with the invaluable help of our partners: Mitsui, on the investment side, and FCC Industrial, Abantia and Seridom, on the construction side,” explained Eduardo González, general manager of FCC Energía.

The plant will benefit from its location in Palma del Río: “it is one of the best sites in Europe in terms of insolation”, the Spanish company said in a press release, and it has easy access to water and gas supply and suitable power offtake structures.

The plant will produce enough energy to meet the electricity needs of 26,000 people (around 100,000 MWh) and will reduce emissions by approximately 100,000 tons of CO2.

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.

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