• More than 7,000 collectors installed with a total weight of over 18,000 tons
• Progress in construction of the power plant block – Preparations underway for supplying the 50 MW turbine
• Launch of power plant scheduled for mid-2011

The works on the solar thermal power plant Andasol 3 are right on target. As a major progress the installation of the parabolic trough collectors for the solar field of Andasol 3 has now been completed. A total of 7,296 collectors have been installed and anchored in the solar field. A collector unit is 12 metres long and weighs around 2.5 tons. In all the power plant covers an area of some two square kilometres, which is roughly equal to the size of the Principality of Monaco. Andasol 3 is being implemented by the Stadtwerke München, RWE Innogy, RheinEnergie, Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium.

Construction of the power plant block is also proceeding on schedule. Work is currently in progress on completing the turbine deck where the steam turbine will later be installed. The turbine itself is already undergoing final acceptance at MAN Diesel & Turbo, the manufacturer. It consists of a high-pressure and a low-pressure machine and was developed and optimised specially for use in Andasol. "Unlike conventional power plants, a turbine for solar operation must be designed to be stopped and started each day according to the availability of the steam," says Herbert Spelleken, the project manager responsible at Flagsol, the joint venture of Solar Millennium and Ferrostaal, to explain the special nature of the plant. The 160 ton giant is planned to begin its long journey to Spain by ship and special truck in late June where ultimate installation in the power plant block will take place. At the same time pipe laying and cabling work will continue on the solar field. The power plant is then scheduled to feed solar power into the Spanish power grid from mid-2011.

Andasol 3 is the third power plant which Solar Millennium has developed at this location, a plateau between Granada and Almeria. The plant will generates an output of 50 megawatts, which together with the sister plants Andasol 1 and 2 located in the immediate vicinity, will supply some half a million people with environmentally-friendly electricity. This will enable approximately 450,000 tons of carbon dioxide to be saved per year compared to a modern coal-fired power station. Thanks to their thermal storages, the power plants can also supply solar power on a plannable basis even after the sun has set.