Sener has launched a new company to operate in renewable energy sources with an ambitious thermosolar technology that involves concentrating the sun's rays in a receiver to use the heat captured to generate electricity. For its latest initiative, the Basque engineering firm has found an ally in Masdar, an alternative energy firm based in Abu Dhabi (Arab Emirates). Together they've set up Torresol Energy, which has been given the mission of becoming a world leader in the industry. TE management are looking to invest 2,000 million euros to 2012 on building ten or so thermosolar facilities at a rate of two a year.

Torresol Energy was presented in Bilbao under the auspices of Vizcaya Provincial Council, whose Chief Executive, José Luis Bilbao, accompanied Sener chairman Jorge Sendagorta. Masdar was represented by CEO sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who, after receiving the makila or baton from Bilbao appeared in the press conference with a number of his fellow Arab executives.

Owned 60 per cent by Sener and 40 per cent by its Abu Dhabi-based partner, the joint venture is up and running at a time when clean sources of electricity are all the rage in a market that is still a long way from maturity. Solar energy from concentration has been used in a number of projects worldwide. However, the technology is not yet being exploited on a major scale, and there's still plenty of scientific work and marketing.

Today thermosolar installed capacity around the world comes to roughly 400 MW, hardly a blip on the radar of the global electricity generation mix. To show just how far the technology has to go, Torresol reckons on having a production base of 320 MW in the next five years. In the slightly longer term, the company has set itself a target of 1,000 MW in ten years' time.

The first 800-million investment has already been assigned to three projects, two in Fuentes de Andalucía in Seville, and the other in Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz.

 Work begins next month on the first 17 MW complex, while work on the other two (both 50 MW each) begins this coming September and March 2009 respectively.