道达尔与Abengoa与阿联酋签署Masdar太阳能项目建设协议

xia2009

The United Arab Emirates is set to sign a deal on Wednesday with Total, the French energy group, and Abengoa Solar, the Spanish company, to build the world’s largest concentrating solar power plant.

The $600m Shams plant, located 120km south west of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, will produce 100MW of energy – 10 times more than an existing solar park built by Enviromena Power Systems at the Gulf country’s ambitious Masdar alternative energy initiative.

For Total, the plant will be the manifestation of the company’s increasing presence in solar energy, an alternative fuel in which competitors such as BP and Shell have reduced their interest in favour of developing second generation biofuels, which produce more energy and have a less detrimental effect on food production than corn ethanol and other biofuels currently on the market.

Total on Monday announced it had acquired 25.4 per cent of AE Polysilicone, a US start-up that has developed advanced technology to produce polysilicone for the photovoltaic panels required for solar energy production.

The French company has a 50 per cent stake in Phototech, which produces photovoltaic cells, and a 50 per cent share in Tenesol, which designs, manufactures and operates photovoltaic energy systems. It is also the largest stakeholder in Konarka, the US company that develops products based on organic solar technologies.

The Shams project has been delayed by the economic crisis, which prompted Masdar, which has a 60 per cent stake, to push for costs to be cut. Total and Abengoa share equally the remaining 40 per cent in Shams.

Masdar’s main project – a $22bn carbon neutral city and renewable energy hub – has been hit by delays and job losses at the parent company. Speculation has mounted in recent months that a wide-ranging review could lead to a reduction in the size of the project.

While officials concede that the challenges have exceeded expectations, they insist that Masdar City will not be scaled back and that Abu Dhabi’s commitment to the initiative remains firm. Masdar is also involved in the London Array wind farm project in the UK.

Construction on the Total solar farm is to begin in July, with operations due to start in 2012. The Shams plant will also use some natural gas to continue producing power when the sun’s rays are unavailable.

The wealthy UAE capital has committed to meeting 7 per cent of its total energy needs through renewable sources by 2020.

  
  
来源: 易恩孚