Protermosolar is the association that represents the Spanish sector of the Concentrated Solar Power industry, in which Spain is the international leader both in terms of installed power and the participation of its companies in international projects.

The Spanish Association for the Promotion of the Thermosolar Industry (Protermosolar) has approved at its general meeting the appointment of Luis Crespo as honorary president. In this way, his work in supporting the technological development of the solar thermal sector and its commercial deployment in Spain is recognized.

Portermosolar has highlighted in a note that Crespo has played «important roles in the future of the solar thermal sector», as has been his work with the Plataforma Solar de Almería or in Protermosolar as general secretary and later president. This recognition complements the ‘Lifetime Award’ awarded by the international community at SolarPACES 2020, the extraordinary award awarded by the Spanish Solar Concentration Research Centers or the dedication of a building in the PSA by Ciemat.

Luis Crespo has commented that he is very grateful for this appointment by the association that recognizes a lifetime of dedication to solar thermal technology.

Crespo, former president of the Spanish Association for the Promotion of the Thermosolar Industry (Protermosolar), has recently given its name to the emblematic CESA 1 building of the Almería Solar Platform. With this action, the Ciemat also recognized the work of Crespo, who retired in 2020, in supporting the technological development of the solar thermal sector and its commercial deployment in Spain, which has led our country to world leadership in this technology.

Luis Crespo has played important roles in the future of the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA): first, as a pioneer of the first plants; subsequently, as a user of its facilities for the development of technology; and, finally, as a manager, since, as director of the Institute of Renewable Energies, he achieved, in the mid-1980s, the unification of the international and Spanish facilities with the property of Ciemat (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, a body dependent on the Ministry of Science and Innovation), as well as the external financing that made it possible for this facility to become the most complete concentrated solar power laboratory in the world.

An example of his commitment to the solar thermal sector has been his work at Protermosolar as general secretary and later president. From those positions, Crespo promoted the inclusion in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan of the goal of five gigawatts (5,000 megawatts) of solar thermal power by 2030. The plaque now dedicated to the former president of Protermosolar is located in the CESA 1 building, which housed Originally the management of the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA), as well as the control room and the turbine of the first Spanish solar thermal power plant.

This recognition complements the Lifetime Award granted by the international community at SolarPACES 2020 and the extraordinary prize awarded by Spanish research centers and companies at that event.

Protermosolar is the association that represents the Spanish sector of the thermoelectric solar industry, in which Spain is the international leader both in terms of installed power and the participation of its companies in international projects. Spain has an installed capacity of 2,300 MW, which represents approximately one third of the world’s capacity. In addition, Spanish companies are present in more than three quarters of all the projects in the world.

According to Protermosolar, «Concentrated Solar Power technology, thanks to its thermal storage, firmness and non-intermittent production, is presented as the most competitive solar renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, capable of decarbonizing electricity generation at night» .