Synthetic heat transfer fluid from Solutia Inc. (St. Louis, Mo.; www.solutia.com) will be used at Solnova 4, a new 50-MW concentrating solar power plant in Sevilla, Spain.
The Solnova 4 power plant is managed by Abener Energia SA (Sevilla, Spain; www.abener.es), and is one of several solar plants located at Abener’s Solúcar Platform. Solnova 4 is scheduled to begin producing electricity in 2010.
Solutia will supply the plant with its Therminol VP-1 synthetic heat transfer fluid, which will be used in trough-shaped mirror assemblies that capture solar radiation. The mirrors concentrate the sunlight and use it to heat the Therminol fluid to about 400ºC. The heated Therminol is used to generate steam that drives power-generating turbines.