Spanish Government Selects SolarReserve's Solar Thermal Project in Competitive Tender

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Termosolar Alcazar, a 50/50 joint venture between SolarReserve, a U.S. developer of utility-scale solar power projects and Preneal, a Spanish developer of renewable energy projects, today announced the Spanish government's award of tender for the venture's 50 megawatt (MW) solar thermal plant to be built in Alcazar de San Juan. The Termosolar Alcazar Power Project will contribute to Spain's renewable energy generation through new highly innovative, fully dispatchable molten salt concentrated solar power tower technology. Termosolar Alcazar was awarded this tender through a competitive bid process based on delivered electricity price, technology innovation and the advanced state of the project development activities.

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The Termosolar Alcazar Power Project will generate enough clean, reliable energy to power 70,000 homes in the region and help Spain achieve the EU Climate & Energy objectives, which include: reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to below 20 percent of 1990 levels, 20 percent of the nation's energy consumption from renewable resources and a 20 percent reduction in primary energy use compared to projected levels. The project will incorporate significant Spanish and US equipment and materials and engineering creating an estimated 4,000 jobs in Spain and more than 2,500 jobs in the United States during the two year construction period.

The project will utilize SolarReserve's utility scale molten salt solar power tower technology developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of United Technologies, which features integrated energy storage to deploy electricity on-demand, day or night, providing the same operating stability, reliability and dispatchability of a conventional power generator while utilizing dry cooling.  The characteristics of the technology along with its capability to reduce the price of power were critical attributes in this tender process.

In November of 2009, the Termosolar Alcazar Power Project received a Declaracion de Impacto from the government of Castilla-La Mancha, the key environmental permit necessary for the construction of the plant.

About Preneal

Established in 1996 in Madrid, Preneal S.A. is an independent shareholders company whose main purpose is to promote, construct and operate renewable energy projects all over the world. Preneal has participated in the development and construction of 13 wind farms in Spain, with a total of 440 MW installed capacity. The company is developing projects, with an added power of more than 670 MW in Spain and 1.200 MW in other countries. By 2015, the objective of the company is to be able to construct and operate more than 800 MW of solar thermal and wind power projects.

About SolarReserve

SolarReserve, LLC – headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. – is a solar energy project development company developing large-scale solar energy projects worldwide. It holds the exclusive worldwide license to the molten salt solar power tower technology developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. Since its formation in late 2007, SolarReserve's team of power project professionals have assembled a concentrated solar power development portfolio of more than 25 projects featuring its licensed solar power technology with potential output of more than 3,000 megawatts in the United States and Europe, with early stage activities in other international markets including the Middle East, North and South Africa, Australia, China and Latin America. SolarReserve is also developing 1,100 MW of photovoltaic projects across the Western United States, and is actively acquiring new sites to add to the pipeline. SolarReserve's experienced management team has previously developed and financed more than $15 billion in renewable and conventional energy projects in more than a dozen countries around the world. SolarReserve is majority-owned by US Renewables Group with other investors that include Good Energies, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Nimes Capital, Pacific Corporate Group, CALPERS Clean Energy and Technology Fund and Argonaut Private Equity.

SolarReserve's molten salt concentrating solar power tower technology was successfully demonstrated in California under a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored pilot project in the late 1990s. The 10 megawatt pilot facility utilized a molten salt receiver designed, engineered and assembled by Rocketdyne, now a part of United Technologies Corporation.

For more information: www.SolarReserve.com

U.S. Media Contact:
Andi Plocek, SolarReserve, 310.315.2233, [email protected]

SOURCE SolarReserve, LLC