CSP World

Spain's Abengoa has said during the first half-year 2013 results presentation that uncertainty in the Spanish renewable energy market has been removed, but the company expects a 33% decrease in revenues and EBITDA from its Concentrated Solar Power plants in the country.

The last change to the Spanish electric market, as previously reported by CSP World, has removed the Feed-in-Tariff system and has estabilshed a 'fixed profitability' system. The new system has set a 7.5% profitability for all renewable energy producers, thought the base to apply this percentage is yet to be announced.

Abengoa's CEO Manuel Sanchez Ortega said in an interview with EFE press agency that the reform of the electricity market is "asymmetric", as renewable energy sector has been the most damaged, and "completely unfair" with the CSP sector. However, Sanchez Ortega says the uncertainty has been removed.

Sanchez Ortega stated that "if the framework to invest (in the CSP sector) had been the currently effective, no one would have invested". Furthermore, Ortega said the investors have been misled as they invested €15 billion under a framework whose terms have been modified.

In the solar sector -Abengoa operates CSP and PV plants-, revenues have increased a 10% from H1 2012 to €134 million while EBITDA has dropped a 11% down to €81 million from €90 million.

The company is currently building five CSP plants, Solana and Mojave in the US, Kaxu and Khi in South Africa and Solaben 1 & 6 (2 x 50 MW) in Spain. Regarding Solaben, the company has not closed financing ye,t despite the plant must be in operation before January 1, 2014 to receive the incentves to renewable energy. The company shows a pending capex of €145 million for this project.

Abengoa operates 843 MW of solar plants while a further 810 MW are under construction. The company expects to reach 1,763 MW by 2017. It is developing the 110 MW Ashalim plant in Israel in partnership with Shikun & Binui and the 500 MW Palen CSP project in the US jointly with BrightSource, this last project will be commissioned further than 2017. Further details of projects can be seen at our CSP World Map: https://www.csp-world.com/cspworldmap

Download the H1 2013 presentation here