The Andasol 3 concentrated solar power plant is located in the province of Granada in southern Spain. The power plant has an installed capacity of around 50 megawatts. 205,000 parabolic reflectors gather sunlight at the Andasol 3 facility.

Each parabolic reflector segment measures 12 times 6 square metres. The thermal energy is transferred to a water/steam cycle via heat exchangers. Like in conventional power plant, this steam drives a turbine.

The generator connected to this produces power. A thermal storage facility then allows the energy to be made available when it’s needed.

This storage unit holds 28,500 tonnes of a special salt mixture. It has sufficient capacity for over seven hours operation at full load. Andasol 3 can thus provide a reliable supply of energy even after the sun has set.

The Andasol 3 solar-thermal power plant is operated by the project company Marquesado Solar S.L. RWE holds 12.8 percent of this project company.

Project status: In operation