Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, Germany sold Ibersol Electricidad Solar Ibérica S.L., the project company for the Ibersol parabolic trough power plant, to MAN Ferrostaal AG, Essen, and Ibersol Kraftwerks GmbH, Erlangen. Each company acquired 50 percent, Solar Millennium reports in a press release. The sales were subject to board approvals and certain conditions, which were met not until the evening of November 17th, 2009. Ibersol Kraftwerks GmbH is equally owned by Solar Millennium and the holding company Cross Capital AG, Zug (Switzerland).

Full feed-in tariff guaranteed, provided that the plant is completed within 48 months; start of construction scheduled for 2010

The project, which was granted pre-registration on 11 November, will now be expedited with the help of the partners. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Pre-registration is a requirement for the statutorily guaranteed feed-in tariff to be granted. Entry into the register assures receipt of the full feed-in tariff, provided that the power plant is completed within the next 48 months.

Ibersol is the fourth 50 MW parabolic trough power plant developed by Solar Millennium in the South of Spain. It will be built in the Spanish province Extremadura and will cover approximately 2 square kilometers. Thermal storage allows for electricity production on demand, even after sunset. In the region of Andalusia, two identical power plants, Andasol 1 and 2, are already operating. Andasol 3, which has also been granted pre-registration, is under construction and is financed with the help of Stadtwerke München, RWE Innogy, RheinEnergie and MAN Ferrostaal. The increased investment certainty as a result of the official pre-registration allows for additional investors to get involved in the project in-line with the example set by Andasol 3. Construction is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2010.

An important milestone and continued evidence of Solar Millennium's growth strategy

Thomas Mayer, CFO of Solar Millennium, comments: "As we have succeeded in involving investors in the Ibersol project as planned, we have reached another important milestone in our annual plan for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. As such, we were able to continue on our growth path over the last few months". Preliminary results for the fiscal year 2008/2009 will be published as announced in the financial calendar.

2009-11-18 | Courtesy: Solar Millennium AG | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH