The opening of the 50 MW La Florida plant, located in Alvarado (Badajoz), makes Spain the global leader in solar energy power connected to the grid.
Spain now has 432 MW of solar energy capacity installed, compared to 422 MW in the US. This puts Spain in first place not only in terms of technological development, but also in production. Spanish solar energy capacity is composed of 11 working plants and another 20 in construction phase—which could be connected to the grid in less than a year—representing additional capacity of close to 600 MW. The sum of all plants registered in the Government’s pre-assigned return program points to capacity reaching 2,500 MW in 2013.

The new La Florida plant was built with parabolic trough technology, developed by Grupo SAMCA. It uses a molten salt thermal storage system, and has a capacity of 50 MW. The plant also represents a milestone in the development of the sector given its size, covering 550,000 m2, making it the largest operating facility in the world.

Spain is today the global leader in this type of technology, and the companies working on these solar thermal plants are beginning to participate in ambitious projects in many areas around the world (US, North Africa, Middle East, China, India, Australia…). This leadership is thanks to a continuous effort in R&D within the sector, since the late 1970s.