Laboratorio de Energía Solar Termoeléctrica
THE ABANDONED POWER PLANT ON THE CANARY ISLANDS
In 2008 company Lysply started building this power station. ‘Laboratorio de Energía Solar Termoeléctrica’ was built to generate solar power.
Solar thermal power plants, like this one, use sunlight to create electricity. Mirrors concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, heating a medium like water or oil to produce steam. This steam powers a turbine connected to a generator, generating electricity for the grid. The Lysply plant goes a step further by converting solar thermal energy into methanol for storage and later electricity generation. Methanol, a convenient energy storage form, can be used during low sunlight or high demand periods. However, the methanol production process may involve coal, raising environmental concerns. While solar thermal power is renewable, the storage and conversion processes may rely on non-renewable resources. Ongoing research aims to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts in solar energy utilization.
Parabólica
The company officially named the site ‘Laboratorio Promocional de Energía Termoeléctrica Solar y Almacenamiento de Energía’. While locals call it ‘Parabólica’.
The plant should be a full-scale laboratory of three solar energy receiver units, which carry out tests. So investors can check the physical reality of this technology on site with all its advantages. Surprisingly, this facility does not exist anywhere else in the world. Although in the middle of the desert of Nevada, USA there is something similar.
No permits
Lysply had one problem. The solar thermal power plant was built just 100 meters from the houses in a protected landscape. The people from El Médano complained about the storage of methanol. Also, there were no permits to built it. The site was sealed three times before works stopped. Today the site is abandoned and there are no plans to clean the site.
The photos of the abandoned solar power station were taken in 2019. You can see more Spanish abandoned locations here.
