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The Solar Platform of Almería (PSA) is the largest concentrating solar technology research, development and test centre in Europe, situated in the
* Facility belongs to CIEMAT, a public research organization under the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).
* R&D activities focus on potential industrial applications of concentrating solar thermal energy and solar 
1976 A work group in the IEA proposed the development of two 500 kW thermosolar power plants (CRS y DCS) within the SSPS project.
1977 Spain through the Centro de Estudios de la Energía (CEE) started a study on a solar power plant of tower type of 1,2 MWe (Project CESA 1)
1978 The work of Basic Engineering for project CESA-1 started and it was decided to install the solar project in Tabernas, Almería.
1979 Begin of civil work for the construction of PSA
1981 Official inauguration of CRS and DCS plants of the Project SSPS
1983 Inauguration of the CESA-1 plant
1985 SSPS project finished and the activity undertaken here was replaced by SolarPACES activity that remains ongoing today
1986 Unification of the various facilities in the PSA, which was taken over by the Institute of Renewable Energy of CIEMAT.
1987 Signing of the Hispano-German Agreement with DLR for the co management of PSA
1990 Recognition as 'Large European Science Facility'
1998 The management of PSA is no longer based on the Hispano-German Agreement and the responsibility of the PSA is entirely Spanish
2005 The PSA is fully integrated into the CIEMAT structure, being a division of the Department of Energy
Research activity at the Plataforma Solar de Almería has been structured around three R&D Units:
* Solar Concentrating Systems Unit.
* Solar
#CESA-1 and SSPS-CRS central receiver systems, 5 and 2.5 MWth respectively.
#TCP-100 2.3-MWth parabolic-trough collector field with associated 115-m3 thermal oil storage system.
#DISS 2.5-MWth test loop, an excellent experimental system for two-phase flow and direct steam generation with parabolic trough collectors in different working conditions, up to 500 °C and 100bar.
#The FRESDEMO “linear Fresnel” technology loop.
#Pressurized gas cooled parabolic-trough collectors system coupled to two-tank molten salts thermal energy storage facility.
#A parabolic-trough collector test facility with thermal oil (the HTF-PTC Test loop) for qualification of solar components.
#A rotary test bench for parabolic trough collectors, named KONTAS.
#4-unit dish/Stirling facility, named DISTAL, and 2 EuroDish units.
#A group of 3 solar furnaces, two of them with horizontal axis 60 kWth and 40 kWth, and a third one with vertical axis 5 kWth.
#A test stand for small evaluation and qualification of parabolic trough collectors, named CAPSOL.
#A 14-stage multi-effect
Impressions ''Plataforma Solar de Almería''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plataforma Solar de Almeria Solar power in Spain Buildings and structures in the Province of Almería Organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Spain
The Solar Platform of Almería (PSA) is the largest concentrating solar technology research, development and test centre in Europe, situated in the Province of Almería
Almería (, also , ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homonymous city of Almería.
Almería has an area of . With 701, ...
, Spain in Tabernas.
History
The PSA was founded in 1981 by IEA – International Energy Agency. But since 1987 it belongs to Spain through the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas ( CIEMAT), a public research organization of the Government of Spain. PSA is European Large Installation Facility since 1990 and belongs to the selected group (created in 2014) of Spanish singular scientific and technical infrastructures (ICTS in its Spanish acronym).Testing
Over 20,000 m² ofmirror
A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...
s are installed on a site. There are several techniques tested under practical conditions, mainly solar thermal power plants. Hydrosol-2 is a solar power tower
A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or 'heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's ra ...
and a set of heliostat
A heliostat (from ''helios'', the Greek word for ''sun'', and ''stat'', as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating ...
s to collect the solar thermal energy.
About
* Facility belongs to CIEMAT, a public research organization under the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).
* R&D activities focus on potential industrial applications of concentrating solar thermal energy and solar photochemistry
Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400–7 ...
.
* Built on a plot of 103 hectares located in Tabernas (Almería).
* About 120 staff, of which 40% are researchers.
Milestones
1975 TheInternational Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing carb ...
(IEA) decided to design and build a facility in one location to validate the solar thermal technology potential for the production of electricity.1976 A work group in the IEA proposed the development of two 500 kW thermosolar power plants (CRS y DCS) within the SSPS project.
1977 Spain through the Centro de Estudios de la Energía (CEE) started a study on a solar power plant of tower type of 1,2 MWe (Project CESA 1)
1978 The work of Basic Engineering for project CESA-1 started and it was decided to install the solar project in Tabernas, Almería.
1979 Begin of civil work for the construction of PSA
1981 Official inauguration of CRS and DCS plants of the Project SSPS
1983 Inauguration of the CESA-1 plant
1985 SSPS project finished and the activity undertaken here was replaced by SolarPACES activity that remains ongoing today
1986 Unification of the various facilities in the PSA, which was taken over by the Institute of Renewable Energy of CIEMAT.
1987 Signing of the Hispano-German Agreement with DLR for the co management of PSA
1990 Recognition as 'Large European Science Facility'
1998 The management of PSA is no longer based on the Hispano-German Agreement and the responsibility of the PSA is entirely Spanish
2005 The PSA is fully integrated into the CIEMAT structure, being a division of the Department of Energy
Research
Research activity at the Plataforma Solar de Almería has been structured around three R&D Units:
* Solar Concentrating Systems Unit.
* Solar Desalination
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...
Unit.
* Solar Treatment of Water Unit.
Test Facilities
#CESA-1 and SSPS-CRS central receiver systems, 5 and 2.5 MWth respectively.
#TCP-100 2.3-MWth parabolic-trough collector field with associated 115-m3 thermal oil storage system.
#DISS 2.5-MWth test loop, an excellent experimental system for two-phase flow and direct steam generation with parabolic trough collectors in different working conditions, up to 500 °C and 100bar.
#The FRESDEMO “linear Fresnel” technology loop.
#Pressurized gas cooled parabolic-trough collectors system coupled to two-tank molten salts thermal energy storage facility.
#A parabolic-trough collector test facility with thermal oil (the HTF-PTC Test loop) for qualification of solar components.
#A rotary test bench for parabolic trough collectors, named KONTAS.
#4-unit dish/Stirling facility, named DISTAL, and 2 EuroDish units.
#A group of 3 solar furnaces, two of them with horizontal axis 60 kWth and 40 kWth, and a third one with vertical axis 5 kWth.
#A test stand for small evaluation and qualification of parabolic trough collectors, named CAPSOL.
#A 14-stage multi-effect distillation
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...
(MED) plant.
#A multiple solar detoxification
Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...
and disinfection application facilities.
#The ARFRISOL building, an energy research demonstrator office building prototypes.
#A meteorological station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
integrated in the ‘Baseline Surface Radiation Network’.
See also
*List of solar thermal power stations
This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power.
Operational
Under construction
Announced
Cancelled
Decommissioned
* Eurelios pi ...
*Solar power in Spain
Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production.
In 2018, the cumulative total solar power installed was 7,011 MW, of which 4,707 MW were solar ...
References
*La electricidad termosolar, historia de éxito de la investigación. Protermosolar, Sevilla, 2012. *Plataforma Solar de Almeria. Annual Report 2012. NIPO 721-13-016-4. *Annual Technical Report 1994, Plataforma Solar de Almeria. . *Tecnología Energéticas e Impacto Ambiental. Macgraw-Hill/Interamericana, 2001.External links
*Impressions ''Plataforma Solar de Almería''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plataforma Solar de Almeria Solar power in Spain Buildings and structures in the Province of Almería Organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Spain