A Spanish energy company is finishing construction on a new solar installation that will employ more than 1,000 large mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a tower and heat the water inside to run a steam-powered generator. The new array — using 1,255 mirrors, each about half the size of a tennis court, to heat water inside a tower that is 160 meters (525 feet) tall — will be the largest in the world employing so-called concentrated solar power (CSP) technology. Located near Seville, the tower is scheduled to open in January and will produce enough energy to power 11,000 homes. The mirrors being employed by the Abengoa energy company focus so much sunlight on the tower that the water inside is heated to more than 1,000 C (1832 F). CSP technology is ideally suited to areas such as southern Spain that enjoy sunny weather nearly year-round, and Spain hopes to take advantage of its climate to produce 2 gigawatts of power ”“ equivalent to 2 coal-fired power plants ”“ by 2015. “CSP is at the very beginning of a very big boom,” said Jose Luis Garcia, a Greenpeace official in Spain
Spanish Firm to Launch World’s Largest Solar Tower Plant
More From E360
-
Energy
Why U.S. Geothermal May Advance, Despite Political Headwinds
-
Food & Agriculture
In War Zones, a Race to Save Key Seeds Needed to Feed the World
-
Climate
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North?
-
RIVERS
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath
-
Solutions
Deconstructing Buildings: The Quest for New Life for Old Wood
-
NATURAL DEFENSES
How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion
-
Solutions
Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths
-
FORESTS
Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging
-
OPINION
The ‘Green’ Aviation Fuel That Would Increase Carbon Emissions
-
CONSERVATION
Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science
-
Energy
China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon
-
Solutions
How Natural Solutions Can Help Islands Survive Sea Level Rise