A Spanish solar power plant backed by Masdar yesterday received US$760 million (Dh2.79 billion) in financing from European institutions, allowing the project to move to the next stage.
Torresol Energy, a joint venture between Masdar, Abu Dhabi's clean energy company, and SENER, a Spanish engineering firm, declined to name the financing institutions.
But it said the investment would allow it to move to the next stage of a project involving twin concentrated solar power plants - Valle 1 and Valle 2 - in Andalusia, Spain.
The plants will have generating capacities of 50 megawatts each, or enough to provide electricity to 80,000 homes a year.
Concentrated solar power involves the use of mirrors to focus the sun's energy on to a central point to boil water. The resulting steam is then used to drive turbines.
"Valle 1 and Valle 2 will be leaders in the delivery of concentrated solar power and a major contribution to the region's power supply," said Enrique Sendagorta, the chairman of Torresol Energy.
Mr Sendagorta said the project would help prevent 90,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by avoiding the need to build conventional power plants.
Experts believe the renewable energy sector will need tens of billions of dollars in investment each year to produce credible alternatives to fossil fuels.
Masdar officials said the company would continue to look at investing in solar power throughout the "sun belt", consisting of countries in the MENA region, southern Europe and south-west US.
"We've just spent the past six months defining our 10-year plans and the plan is relatively bold," said Frank Wouters, the associate director of Masdar's power division.
The Government is aiming to build 1,500mw of renewable energy by 2020.
A central feature of the Spanish solar project is in its energy storage technology, which will use molten salt to store the solar plants' electricity output as heat for up to 7.5 hours.
This is the second Spanish solar project undertaken by the joint venture between Masdar and SENER. The first is Gemasolar, a 17mw project scheduled to start up next year.
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The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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A Dog's Journey
Directed by: Gail Mancuso
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Kathryn Prescott
3 out of 5 stars
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If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Company%20Profile
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