Puertollano, 13 November 2024. The President of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, has inaugurated the first BlueSolar1 pilot plant based on BlueSolar technology, which combines photovoltaic and solar thermal energy. The event was attended by the Mayor of Puertollano, Miguel Ángel Ruiz; the Regional Minister for Sustainable Development, Mercedes Gómez; the CEO of the Ghenova Group and President of BlueSolar, Francisco Cuervas; and the Director of BlueSolar, José Julio Caparrós. This pilot plant, which has been built at the headquarters of the Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentración (ISFOC) located in Puertollano, promises to be the great solution in terms of efficiency, profitability and storage in the energy sector.
This innovation has been co-developed by Ghenova Ingeniería, after years of research and development with the collaboration of Spanish technology centres such as CSIC, the Plataforma Solar de Almería, Tekniker, the University of Seville, the National Hydrogen Centre, ISFOC and other prestigious European centres such as Fraunhofer. It has been co-funded by CDTI and the Andalusian Technological Corporation (CTA).
The welcome was given by the Mayor of Puertollano, Miguel Ángel Ruiz, who expressed his gratitude to BlueSolar for choosing this city as the site for a pioneering technology in renewable energies. ‘Thank you for trusting Puertollano to host this innovative project, which is an important step towards energy transition and circular economy’, said the mayor.
In this sense, the mayor added that ‘thanks to this shared vision, we are consolidating Puertollano as an engine of technological development, capable of attracting investments that generate employment and promote a greener and more sustainable future’.
During the inauguration event, Ghenova’s CEO, Francisco Cuervas, stressed that ‘Bluesolar is a pioneering technology that will revolutionise the global energy landscape and will change the rules of the game’ and added that ‘thanks to this plant with very high energy efficiency, we will achieve a storable and optimal energy for the generation of green H2’.
DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Bluesolar is the first large-scale plant concept that integrates photovoltaic and solar thermal energy in the same plant through its innovative hybrid panels, enabling uninterrupted electricity generation. It is a new concept based on solar panels that also function as concentrating mirrors, using a patented technology of selective optical light filters.
The filter makes it possible to combine both technologies, replacing concentrating mirrors with filters integrated into photovoltaic panels that continue to generate electricity while reflecting heat, which is used for thermal storage or direct steam generation.
It is a technology compatible with green hydrogen generation, especially important for its derivatives such as methanol or ammonia, which require uninterrupted renewable electricity service, as well as for coupling to thermal and reverse osmosis desalination plants, which have high thermal and electrical consumption, respectively.
BlueSolar has the potential to become the world’s first solar technology that enables uninterruptible power supply at a market price, without the need for subsidies or special feed-in tariffs, thus achieving price stability and independence from fossil fuels.
In this regard, the director of BlueSolar, Jose Julio Caparrós, explained that, ‘The integration of photovoltaic plants with thermal storage plants with BlueSolar technology gives rise to a plant concept that is much more efficient, modular, reliable, scalable and less technologically complex than current solar thermal plants. Furthermore, he insisted that ‘the key lies in the high performance of the technology, which allows electricity to be stored from the grid or from other renewable plants with an electrical efficiency of over 90%, which is a disruption for thermal storage, at a much lower cost’.
The event was closed by the president of the Junta de Castilla- La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, who stressed that ‘Puertollano is a favourable place to host this technology and to continue being a “factory of ideas” that promotes high-impact projects’ and insisted on ‘the importance of continuing to hit the thinking machine, knowing that everyone benefits from your ideas because that makes us grow’, congratulating all those involved in the project.
