Today sees the inauguration by King Juan Carlos I of the Gemasolar solar power plant in Fuentes de Andalucía, Sevilla.
Also attending the ceremony will be the president of the Junta de Andalucia, José Antonio Griñán, and the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Trade, Miguel Sebastián.
The plant cost €250 million to build, provided 1,800 jobs during the 29 months of construction and has been operational since May 1st 2011.
It is a 19.9MW plant capable of producing 110 GWh per year and supplies electricity to 27,500 homes. The solar field consists of 2,652 heliostats arranged in concentric circles around a central tower. Each heliostat has a mirror area of 120 square metres which is oriented on an ongoing basis to take into account the position of the sun and prevailing weather conditions.
The technology for the plant was designed in Spain and 85% of the components were manufactured in Spain.