Hydro Aluminum's Guaymas Plant Fabricates Extruded Aluminum Solar Arrays for Two New Thermal Solar Power Plants
Solar expertise plays a role in orders for new facilities in Spain
LINTHICUM, , Md. - October 22, 2008 - Hydro Aluminum's Extrusion Americas unit has again expanded its commercial solar experience, supplying custom extruded aluminum to two new thermal solar facilities currently under construction in Spain.
Hydro Aluminum is supplying the extruded materials for use in the trough frames to the Palma del Rio II solar power plant, located in southern Spain, and the Majadas plant in Extremadura, east of Madrid.
Palma del Rio II will utilize 9,153 frames, while the Majadas construction will use 8,700. Hydro will ship nearly 15 million pounds of aluminum for the two projects during a 10-month window. Both facilities are being built by Acciona, a Spanish energy company.
Desired for their rigidity, light weight, durability and tight tolerance to spec, Hydro's extruded aluminum frames will be produced in the company's Phoenix plant and fabricated at its Guaymas, Mexico, facility. The frames will be assembled on site in Spain.
"Our experiences at Nevada Solar One and, more recently, in Badajoz, Spain, help us to continuously improve our service to solar providers," said Allan Bennett, Hydro Aluminum's vice president of sales and marketing for the company's Extrusion Americas solar energy group. "Hydro enters into these types of projects well ahead of other providers."
Hydro is manufacturing the frame components, support beams, clips and connectors for the arrays. Each frame is about 26 feet long and 12 feet high, holding parabolic mirrors that work with a computer-controlled system to track the sun. The mirrors focus the sun's rays on a tube filled with heat-transfer fluid. The heated liquid generates steam, driving a turbine that creates electricity.
About Hydro
Extrusion Americas is a unit of Norsk Hydro, a Fortune Global 500 supplier of aluminum and aluminum products. Based in Oslo, Norway, the company employs 25,000 in more than 30 countries, and has activities on six continents. Hydro is the world's third-largest aluminum supplier, the largest single manufacturer of primary metal and extruded aluminum products in Europe, and a leader in delivering innovative light metal solutions to the automotive and building industries worldwide.
In North America, Hydro provides aluminum solutions including supply sourcing, extrusion, finishing, and fabrication of components, as well as engineering and contract manufacturing services, for a variety of industries.
http://www.hydro.com/northamerica/
