Spain Going Greener - New Solar Power Plants

Two new solar power plants are planned to be engineered in Alcazar de San Juan. This town is located on the plain of La Mancha, in the autonomous region of Castilla La Mancha. It is just under two hours by car from Madrid and an hour and a half from Toledo.

Fluor Corporation announced today they have been awarded the engineering contract for the two plants which, when completed, will capture solar energy using parabolic trough mirrors. These enormous u-shaped mirrors are angled to optimise the sun's energy, which will in turn be used to produce electricity through a steam turbine generator. In the exceptionally sunny climes of central Spain, these power plants can expect to receive up to 12 hours of sunshine per day at their peak in July that's around double the London average!

Not only is this good news for the businesses involved, but also for Spain's environmental status. Currently ranked 25th in the world, according to Yale University's Environmental Performance Index, these solar power plants are a step in the right direction for reducing the country's harmful emissions.

Released in January this year, the Environmental Performance Index takes into account 25 different indicators, from greenhouse gas emissions, to water quality and forest cover. For more information about Spain's environmental scores, as well as those of the 162 other countries included in the study, take a look at the EPI 2010 website.