The award was announced on June 24th during the 4th Concentrated Solar Power Summit, which took place from June 23rd to June 25th in San Francisco (USA). SENER received the prize for its molten salt heat storage system, which enables plants with SENER’s technology to continue producing electricity even when there is no sunlight, either at night or when the sun’s rays are very weak. Thanks to this system, which significantly increases the yield of a plant without thermal storage, it’s possible to guarantee the continuous supply of electricity. This stops service disruptions, and adapts flexibly to the demand of consumers, which is one of the weak points of some renewable technologies.

The molten salt heat storage system is a technological innovation developed by SENER, which the company employs in all its projects. SENER has a portfolio of twelve concentrated solar power projects, eight of which are turnkey contracts for different clients. Three are already up and running, and the engineering company is in charge of their technology. Some have represented true worldwide milestones: Andasol 1, in Granada, was the first thermosolar station in the world to use a system of molten salt heat storage commercially. Connected to the grid at the end of 2008, its successful construction, start-up and commercial operation allowed SENER to undertake eleven similar projects, which use the same technology. Gemasolar is also worthy of mention, as the world’s first commercial plant utilizing a molten salt receiver tower, with a thermal storage system. It will begin operating in 2011 and SENER hopes it will serve as a worldwide reference point, showing the way forward in cost reduction strategy for the thermosolar energy sector.