Spain-based energy technology company Abengoa says it has formed a partnership with Israel-based engineering and infrastructure firm Shikun & Binui called Negev Energy to build, own and operate a 110 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant with storage located in the Negev Desert. Abengoa says the partnership won a build-operate-transfer tender by the Israeli government.
Abengoa says electricity will be purchased by Israel Electricity Corp. over a 25-year power purchase agreement. Construction is expected to start in 2014 in the Ashalim area of the Negev once the power purchase agreement and project financing are closed.
The Ashalim CSP project will be of a solar trough design. Solar trough plants collect solar energy using mirrors that follow the sun and concentrate its energy onto heat absorber tubes that carry a fluid. Using a heat exchanger, the thermal energy heats water to generate steam that is used to produce electricity using a turbine.
