SolarReserve, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer of utility-scale solar energy projects, and Preneal, a Madrid, Spain-based developer of renewable energy projects, say they have received the key environmental permit required for their Alcazar solar thermal power project. The autonomous government of Castilla-La Mancha has issued a Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental.
The 50 MW project is being developed near the town of Alcazar de San Juan, about 180 km south of Madrid. The project will generate more than 300,000 MWh of electricity per year – enough electricity to power almost 70,000 homes in the region. The plant will deploy molten salt technology that exclusively licensed to SolarReserve by United Technologies Corp., the companies add.
Project construction is scheduled to begin in 2010.
SOURCES: SolarReserve, Preneal