4 NEW SOLAR POWER PLANTS FOR SPAIN

Followers of action in the solar energy world are expecting a lot of stories like this one in the next few weeks as solar companies move fast on the remaining monies in Spain’s feed-in tariff (FiT) before it downshifts at the end of September.

The question U.S. solar energy leaders are asking is this: What does Spain’s FiT experience say about the use of that kind of subsidy? Was the enormous rush to build solar in Spain a good thing? Or was it too much too fast?

Did Spain’s FiT effectively move the solar industry toward lower costs by driving the development of greater scales (and the long-sought economies of scale)? Or could it have been designed better, more like the German subsidy program?

Three things are clear: (1) The solar industry in Spain is booming; (2) The solar industry in Spain is in turmoil; (3) The Spanish government had to rewrite its original subsidy program this summer. (For more detail, see SPANISH ADJUST INCENTIVES TO NEW REALITY)

As solar industry leaders prepare for major annual industry gatherings in the fall (see Solar Power International 08), the FiT and these questions about it will be the primary topic of conversation.

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Abengoa gets 280 mln euros for solar power plants
Martin Roberts (w/ Anthony Barker), August 7, 2008 (Reuters)
and
Abengoa Solar completes financing for new solar projects worth more than E280 million
August 7, 2008 (Abengoa Solar)

WHO
Abengoa Solar (Santiago Seage, Chairman, & Amando Sánchez Falcón, CFO); 11 banks financing the solar power plant (Banesto, Caja Madrid, Calyon, Dexia Sabadell, ING, Kfw, Ladesbank, Natixis, Santander, Société Générale and Ubibanca); 3 banks financing the PV installations (La Caixa, Sumitomo and West LB)

WHAT
A group of 14 banks will invest 280 million euros for the development of Solnova 4, an Abengoa solar power plant, and 3 photovoltaic (PV) installations.

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WHEN
- These financing moves are likely indicative of a current rush to invest in Spain’s solar energy industry before generous FiTs are replaced by a more restrictive incentive scheme at the end of September.
- Construction begins in September for Solnova 4

WHERE
- The Solnova 4 plant will be built at the Solúcar platform in Sanlúcar la Mayor in Seville, a province in the south of Spain.
- 2 of the other plants will also be in Seville, in the towns of Sanlúcar la Mayor and las Cabezas de San Juan, and the 3rd will be in Linares in the southern province of Jaen.
- Abengoa Solar is listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange. It operates in 70 countries through 5 business units: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies, and Engineering and Industrial Construction.

WHY
- 210 million euros will come from the 11 banks for the 50-megawatt Solnova 4 plant, part of the Solnova complex that will eventually be 300 megawatts.
- Solnova 4 will, like the Solnova 1 and Solnova 3 plants under construction at Solúcar, use parabolic trough technology.
- 70 million euros, from 3 other banks, will go to 3 PV installations.
- The panels at the PV facilities will be installed with tracking technology to maximize output.

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QUOTES
- Santiago Seage, Chairman, Abengoa Solar: “[The financial support ] is a very important milestone for Abengoa Solar. More than half of the 300 megawatts planned for our Solúcar platform are under construction. The PS10 is already operational and with Solnova 4 we will have 170 megawatts under construction”.
- Amando Sánchez Falcón, CFO, Abengoa: “[T]his deal is just another example of Abengoa’s ability to continue financing operations in a difficult environment. The confidence that the financial institutions place in the combination of Abengoa Solar’s technology and operational leadership and Abengoa’s construction capabilities is one of the keys to the success of this deal”.