Andasol 3 power plant

The plant Andasol 3 has an installed capacity of about 50 megawatts and is expected to provide 165 gigawatt hours of energy per year.

Andasol 3 is located in the communities of Aldeire and La Calahorra in the Province of Granada, Southern Spain. Thanks to the high altitude and weather characteristics, this position provides a high annual direct insolation.

In addition, the proximity to a high voltage line, the availability of cooling water coming from Sierra Nevada and the good connection to the highway makes this plain the perfect location for a thermal power plant.

As any parabolic trough power plant, the main element of Andasol 3 is the solar field, which supplies the thermal energy for the further generation of the steam which runs the turbine. In addition, the power plant is provided with a thermal storage which enables the power supply not only in a clean but also in a reliable and secure long-term way.

HISTORY

The name of the company, Marquesado Solar, was especially chosen to highlight the area where the plant is located, the region “Marquesado del Zenete”

The works for the construction of the power plant started in 2008 and finalized in 2011. At the time of the commissioning, Andasol 3 became the third solar thermal power plant installed in the Spanish province of Granada, and together with its neighbouring projects Andasol 1 & 2, constituted at that moment the first parabolic trough solar power plant in Europe, the first solar power station with thermal storage in the History, as well as the largest solar thermal power station in the world.

Andasol 3 power plant
ANDASOL 3 IN NUMBERS

Andasol 3 in numbers

LOCATION
Location: 10 km east of Guadix, Province of Granada in southern Spain
Municipalities: Aldeire and La Calahorra
Elevation: ~1,100m above sea level
SOLAR FIELD
Number of parabolic mirrors: ~210,000
Numbers of receivers: ~22,000 pipes, each measuring 4 meters,
Size of the solar field: ~500.000 m2
HEAT STORAGE CAPACITY
Salt tank capacity: ~29,000 tn. salt
POWER PLANT CAPACITY
Turbine capacity: 49,9 MW
Annual operating hours: ~3,700 peak load hours
Planned gross energy production: ~165 GWh
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