Within the area of renewable power generation, Solar thermal power plants have the technological advantage that they can continue to run during the night with heat stored during daylight operation, enabling solar thermal power plants to contribute to the base load of grids. Moreover, sunlight as a ­resource for power generation is free - not surprisingly, solar thermal power is rising in demand. GEA Ibérica, which is a subsidiary of GEA's Thermal Engineering ­Division, has a history of supplying surface condensers to solar thermal power plants in Europe. CHEManager Europe questioned Ramon Rodriguez, Managing ­Director of GEA Ibérica, about developments in regard to ­solar thermal projects.

CHEManager Europe: GEA has announced that it is strategically aligning itself to focus more on the solar thermal power industry. Why?

R. Rodriguez: In the area of solar thermal power plants, we see a huge growth potential. This potential provides chances for GEA in Europe as well as on the African and American continent. This has been the main reason behind increasing our activities in this area. By tradition, GEA is one of the leading suppliers in the area of dry and wet cooling systems to the power plant industry. Also in the area of conventional power generation, we see a high demand in the area of new build capacity in Asia and the Middle East. In Europe and North America we see demand in the area of power plant replacements due to the age of the installed capacity. Also in the area of cooling equipment for conventional power plants, GEA has successfully strengthened its activities in previous years.

Are there many solar power plant projects in development at present?

R. Rodriguez: New projects in the area of solar thermal power plants are in the planning phase in various countries, approvals for new Solar Thermal power plants are currently not problematic.

How large is the GEA division process cooling in comparison to other GEA divisions?

R. Rodriguez: The Thermal Engineering Division of GEA has been a part of the GEA Group since the foundation of GEA. Even today, Thermal Engineering is one of the biggest Divisions of GEA and contributes considerably to the business.

In June, GEA announced an order to design, manufacture and supply 7 surface condensers for new solar thermal power plants in Spain. Can you give us more details?

R. Rodriguez: The surface condensers are destined for Solar Thermal Power Plants in Spain. Unfortunately, we do not have the possibility to mention the project names. All power plants will be parabolic through installations. The surface condensers condense the steam of the steam cycle from the power plant. The condensate (water) will then be re-used in the evaporator to supply the steam turbine of the power plant.

What were the criteria for the order?

R. Rodriguez: In this particular case, we do not know the exact reason that finally influence the customer's decision. In general, we notice that customers value the experience of GEA in the area of heat transfer as well as the reliability of the equipment. GEA is one of the pioneers in industrial air cooling since 1920 and has played a major role in the technical development in this area. Another reason why customers choose GEA equipment is the global network of the company. The engineering offices and manufacturing sites of the Division Thermal Engineering in Europe, Asia, North and South America as well as in the Middle East and South Africa provide maximum customer proximity.

The order includes the development of the condensers. Will this be carried out by GEA Ibérica or another subsidiary?

R. Rodriguez: The customer provided us with the parameters of the installation such as condensate pressure, condensate temperature, water inlet and outlet temperatures as well as indications about the water quality. Based upon these given parameters, the thermal layout has been made at GEA Ibérica in Spain. The surface condensers will then be manufactured at GEA Caldemon in Santander, Spain. The business of GEA Caldemon was acquired by GEA Ibérica at the end of 2008. Before the acquisition, Caldemon was a long-term supplier for surface condensers and pressure vessels for GEA Ibérica. A team with long term experience is working together in procuring this job.

As different orders require new designs, how important is R&D?

R. Rodriguez: Research and Development is an important part, this refers to manufacturing technologies as well as further developments in the area of heat exchange.