The sector of
NATURAL GAS
The Gate terminal regasification plant, in Rotterdam.
TECNOLOGÍA
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TRIBUNE
TECHNOLOGY
Masdar’s Managing
Director and
Chief Executive Officer
Study for the first
metro line for
Colombia’s
capital city
Dr. Sultan Ahmed
Al Jaber
Bogota Metro
Al día: Espacio
2
SENER noticias 39
42
CONTRIBUTORS:
Aguinaldo Azevedo
Ángel Fernandez
Antonio Pacheco
Carles Vila
César Quevedo
Claudio Zapico
Francesc Gallart
Ignacio Larrea
Javier Salcedo
Javier Viñals
Jerónimo Angulo
Jordi Redó
José Ángel Andión
José Carlos Rodríguez
José Carlos Pazos
José Ignacio Bueno
Josep María Escuer
Julián Díaz
Luis Gabellieri
Luis María San Martín
Maite Gómez
Michael Hardt
Nuria Casals
Osvaldo Iturre
Pablo Gaya
Sergio Aladrén
Sergio Relloso
Soledad Garrido
Verónica Alonso
Victor Lupiáñez
Victor Marco and
Xavier Pascual.
PUBLISHING TEAM:
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Communication.
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Legal deposit number:
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Imprenta Grafilur
ON THE COVER: Gate
terminal regasification
plant, in Rotterdam.
04 Article
The natural gas sector. SENER, an
international benchmark in the art
of integration.
08 Interview
Luis Gabellieri, Director of Gas and
Thermal Power Department.
10 Tribune
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Masdar’s
Managing Director and CEO.
11 Up-to-date
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New Markets
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Marine
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31 Corporate
36 Technology
Study for the first line of the Bogota
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38 In Brief
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SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
3
Article
THE NATURAL GAS SECTOR
An international
benchmark in the art
of integration
Ever since SENER’s first forays into the gas industry back in
the ‘70s, the company has successfully positioned itself
as the worldwide leader in EPC construction projects for
regasification plants. This has been reinforced with its leading
role in projects such as the Gate terminal and Dunkirk plants.
n September 23rd, the opening ceremony
was held for the Rotterdam Gate terminal
regasification plant in Maasvlakte in the
Europort commercial port. With a 12 billion m3
per year capacity, the Gate terminal is one of the
largest gas projects in all of Europe. It involved an
€800 million investment and took three years to
build with an EPC contract in which SENER led a
consortium with three other companies.
SENER participated in the management,
procurement and construction of the project,
and was in charge of supervising the project’s
construction and commissioning, in addition to
performing its engineering. SENER participated
O
in the project as part of the TS LNG joint venture
together with Techint Engineering & Construction.
Both companies successfully conducted the
construction and commissioning of the plant,
completing all of their work on time and on budget.
Their success on this project was a key factor
in their being awarded another contract, this time
for the Dunkirk regasification plant in Northern
France. TS LNG has made this new contract
another ‘turnkey’ project, this time for an LNG
regasification plant with three 190,000 m3 storage
tanks and capacity to produce 13 billion m3 per year.
As part of the TS LNG consortium, SENER will
be responsible for developing all of the basic and
TS LNG was founded in 2007 when Techint
Engineering & Construction and SENER established
a joint venture to perform LNG projects.
Specializing in EPC projects, TS LNG was directly
responsible for the engineering, procurement,
construction and start-up of the Gate terminal
plant in the Netherlands, an international
benchmark in the field of regasification plants.
Now that this terminal has been launched in
collaboration with the French companies Entrepose
and Vinci (as part of the TSEV consortium), TS
LNG is currently working on a regasification
plant in Dunkirk, France. TS LNG combines the
vast experience of SENER and Techint E&C in
LNG projects for clients such as Repsol, ENEL,
Edison, Trans Canada, Cacouna Energy, Energia
Costa Azul S.de R.L.de C.V, Kellogg Brown & Root,
ENAGAS, and SAGGAS, among others.
4
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
Article
detailed engineering, acquiring all of the equipment
and performing the civil-works constructions,
buildings, jetty, unloading pipes and central
regasification processing plant. It will also conduct
all of the activities for commissioning and start-up
of the facility. The construction will last four years,
with the plant becoming operational in 2015.
The Gate terminal and Dunkirk projects
represent two of the largest regasification projects in
Europe: two EPC contracts that involve substantial
financial outlays by their customers. And SENER
has participated in both of them as a part of the
consortium hired as the general contractor. Since the
first days of regasification plants, for which SENER
won the first contract in 2002, the company’s
progress has been brisk and adroit.
The genesis of the regasification sector
SENER’s experience in the gas industry dates
back to the ‘70s when the company, which had
been founded as a marine engineering firm in 1956,
began designing tankers. At that point in time
SENER began to work on storage systems and
cryogenic shipping; it patented a spherical storage
design for pressurized liquid natural gas, and did
design work for floating plants in general.
It was not until 2002, though, that SENER truly
consolidated its role in the industry when, as part
of a construction consortium, it was awarded the
EPC contract for the Sagunto regasification plant.
This contract turned out to be a building block
for other regasification contracts for other plants
throughout Spain.
The Sagunto Terminal in Valencia was launched
in an initial phase with two tanks with 300,000 m3
total storage space and capacity to supply 7 billion
m3 of gas per year. At that point, three expansions
were suggested, equipping the plant with four
tanks and a total storage capacity of 600,000 m3
and a peak supply of 8.76 billion m3 of gas per year.
SENER participated in each of these stages, and is
also part of the consortium now ready to perform a
fifth expansion phase.
After Sagunto, SENER took on other engineering
and construction jobs in Spain such as the Castor
underground storage project in Vinaroz, Castellón;
the expansion of the BBG plant in Bilbao, a contract
awarded some time ago, but which recently went
into effect this year; and the expansion of the Enagás
terminal in Barcelona in 2008.
At that point SENER intensified its efforts to
diversify geographically. The company’s international
In this page, left:
works in the
jetty area at the
Gate terminal
regasification plant,
in Rotterdam, a
SENER project as
part of the TS LNG
consortium; below:
the British ship
called British Trader,
capable of carrying
up to 130,000 m3
of LNG, docked at
Gate terminal. This
is the first boat to
berth in the plant,
a milestone that
took place in June
2011. In the previous
page: Gate terminal
aerial view during the
construction works.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
5
Article
In this page: works
at Gate terminal,
view of the top of
the recondenser,
developed and
patented by SENER.
In the next page,
above: aerial view
of the Sagunto
regasification
plant, in Valencia
(Spain), an EPC
contract developed
by SENER as part
of a construction
consortium; below:
works at Gate
terminal, jetty area.
activity in the industry took flight thanks to a strategic
alliance with Techint, forming the TS LNG joint
venture in 2007. Within this commercial framework
SENER has been awarded EPC contracts with the
scope of the Gate terminal and Dunkirk.
A partner with binding responsibility
In these projects, SENER has acted as a contractor
in horizontal consortia in which both SENER
and its partners have been jointly responsible for
all of the activities in the project (as opposed to
vertical consortia where each partner has specific
responsibilities). Currently, thanks to its experience
in these contracts, SENER has a sizable team of
specialists in the regasification sector who work in
professional environments and have a synergistic
approach to working with their partners. This team of
professionals has the tools to take on EPC contracts in
many countries around the world.
In these consortia, SENER has come to be
universally recognized as a partner that excels
in optimizing and improving the features of its
industrial projects, not only when working on
this type of plants, but also for power plants,
solar plants, processing plants, etc. The ‘art’ of
integrating and innovating is SENER’s specialty
in this market. Integrating implies, among other
things, applying specific criteria for identifying
which teams will be best for a project and, once
they have been combined, properly allocating them
the work requested by the client. In the art of
integrating and innovating, SENER is a leader in
the field of industrial projects.
Regasification R&D
As a company specializing in cutting edge technology,
SENER has made technological contributions to this
field such as its re-condenser (a.k.a. ‘re-liquifier’) and
its innovative storage tanks.
THE OPENING OF GATE TERMINAL
was quite an event, lasting three
days. The plant was officially opened
on September 23rd at an event
presided over by Queen Beatrix of
the Netherlands that was attended
by roughly 700 people, including
financiers, operators, local workers
and members of the media.
6
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
In the case of its cryogenic storage tanks, SENER
detected a need to develop this technology from the
time of its first forays into the gas industry. But it
was the impulse provided by the Sagunto contract
in 2002 that finally allowed SENER to perform
engineering work in other Spanish regasification
plants, where the design of the tanks subsequently
became a reality. SENER, which already had the
theoretical knowledge, with these projects gained
the practical experience to develop the know-how for
The Gate terminal is one of Europe’s
largest gas terminals, with three
180,000 m3 storage tanks and an
initial export volume of 12 billion
cubic meters per year. It is equipped
with two berthing docks capable of
simultaneously loading two Q-Max
tankers, the largest LNG tankers in the
world. The Gate terminal is, in fact,
capable of meeting the natural gas
requirements of all of the Netherlands
and part of Europe.
This immense project took three years
to build - from the start of construction
in June of 2008 to the completion
of its start-up and commissioning
on September 1, 2011. That day, the
construction consortium TSEV (made
up of TS LNG and another consortium)
delivered the plant to the client,
strictly adhering to the time frames
outlined in the contract.
This project proved that TS LNG has
come up with the right mix of human
resources, know-how, experience and
technology to successfully develop
a plant with above-average capacity.
From the outset of the project,
special attention was paid to safety,
the environment, logistics and the
versatility of the operation. It also
bears mentioning that the plant’s
construction was completed with one
of the highest levels of safety ever
recorded in a Europort Rotterdam
project, with over 2,500,000 hours
of construction performed without a
workday lost due to accidents.
Article
SENER has come
to be universally
recognized as a
partner that excels
in optimizing and
improving the
features of its
industrial projects,
among other things.
the technology. Thanks to its intense experience in
a variety of terminals, SENER was able to include
improvements it had learned in the gas market into
the design of its cryogenic tanks and also to add its
experience from the marine industry (sheet metal
cuts and rolls, etc.).
SENER’s re-condenser in particular was specifically
developed for the Gate terminal project. This design has
also incorporated all of the improvements SENER has
learned in its regasification plants.
To date, the company can provide cutting edge
designs both for re-condensers and cryogenic tanks
designs that apply the best features currently
available in the market.
The future
Working in technology requires constantly
searching for new solutions and improvements
that anticipate customer needs. SENER thus has
its eyes firmly focused on the future. At this point
in time the company is developing floating storage
and regasification units (FSRUs). This will be a
new line of products that will meet the growing
need in the energy market to increase capacity for
rapid regasification.
There are already well-defined markets calling
for FSRU plants, either due to not having the
necessary space to build land-based plants (as
with countries with limited coastal access or
coastlines declared conservation areas), or due to
issues involving construction times or installation
logistics, since floating regasification plants have
significantly shorter design and construction
times. Currently, the only attempt to satisfy the
demand for gas in these types of locations is to sell
regasification services that use tankers reconverted
into mobile plants. This type of service, while
certainly effective, is cost prohibitive.
Therefore, SENER has combined its marine
experience with its experience in regasification
plants to develop an innovative FSRU design,
with the eventual goal of selling it to clients
as permanent regasification plants based on
the ocean. The goal, as such, is not to sell
regasification services, but rather to solve once
and for all the problems presented by customers,
who for various reasons lack land based plants, by
providing them with floating terminals.
SENER’s FSRU consists of a ‘floating hydraulic
format’ that can be sailed, but which is not specifically
designed as a boat. Once built, the FSRU is towed and
then anchored to a selected coastal point where it can
be connected to a dock when needed.
SENER has perfected a highly innovative design
consisting of a modular concept with a plethora of
advantages such as its ability to significantly cut down
design and construction times, and flexibility both in
how it refuels and how it stores gas in a way that can
be adapted to each customer’s specific needs.
SENER is already in final negotiations with
an off-shore constructor with whom it hopes to
establish a close relationship that will result in
delivering these plants using an EPC contract. This
will be a new line of business which may turn out
to be crucial in the coming years.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
7
Interview
Energy’s
future lies in
diversification
Luis Gabellieri, Director of Gas and
Thermal Power Department
Question: What capacity does SENER
currently have to take on a liquefied
natural gas project?
Luis Gabellieri: When we started
working as EPC contractors for industrial
plants, we were providing consortia
with our experience in engineering,
procurement and commissioning. Right
now, SENER still has the necessary
faculties for successfully performing full
EPC contracts. A regasification plant
basically has three well defined project
areas: its jetty, its processing plant and
its storage tank area. SENER has both
the necessary technology and the proper
resources for building all three.
SENER’s ability to perform ‘turnkey’
projects is not limited to the gas
industry; in fact any project like this
is multidisciplinary, and therefore the
skills and know-how all interplay and
strengthen each other. SENER takes on
EPC contracts not just for solar
plants, power plants and processing
plants... and this is what drives our inhouse work in construction, procurement
and commissioning. Together with
engineering, they are fundamental in this
type of contract.
We are currently a company with the
tools to perform EPC contracts in several
countries. This is also a result of the
geographical diversification SENER has
undergone in recent years, giving us the
8
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
possibility to have a presence in various
regions of the world.
Q: To date SENER has taken part in
major contracts, working in consortia
together with other companies. What
does SENER contribute as a partner?
L.G.: SENER is a partner that brings
a lot to the table, especially our strengths
in integration and innovation. We are
conciliatory and excel at negotiating,
finding negotiated solutions for signing
contracts. But at the same time we
have a very firm business ethic. This is
“SENER is a
partner
that brings
a lot to a
consortium,
especially our
strengths in
integration and
innovation”
crucial when working in a consortium,
as illustrated in TS LNG, our joint
venture with Techint for performing
EPC contracts for regasification plants.
This stable agreement is the result of our
complementary work and the excellent
synergy between our two companies.
SENER and Techint both have a similar
business ethic, on top of sharing a
similar major global presence, with similar
ideas for expanding into the international
market; there are other similarities too,
for example how we evaluate and prevent
project risk, which is another area where
our companies converge.
Together we have garnered worldwide
recognition in the regasification plant
market. And we can only expect bigger and
better achievements from TS LNG.
Q: TS LNG recently had the winning bid
for the Dunkirk regasification plant.
What role will SENER play in the
project and how will that be coordinated
within TS LNG?
L.G.: The Dunkirk project will be
performed as a joint venture, which means
that there will be no specific scope for
each partner. The engineering will be the
responsibility of a task force which will be
based very close to our Madrid offices.
Q: What are SENER’s main markets for
LNG projects?
L.G.: The markets SENER will be
focused on, and in general terms are:
Interview
“We are
currently a
company with
the tools to
perform EPC
contracts
in several
countries”
the Americas, Asia and Europe. We are
tracking projects in countries like Panama,
El Salvador, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico,
Chile, Brazil, France, Lithuania, Ukraine,
India and Malaysia, to mention a few.
You can see from the type of plants we
work on, regasification terminals, that we
focus our efforts on countries that import
natural gas or have low reserves.
Q: How do you see the future of
the natural gas market, what with
the complex situation the planet is
experiencing due to the scarcity of fossil
fuels, the clean energy debate...?
L.G.: I feel that on our planet, all of the
types of energy known to man can and
must coexist. They’re all necessary, they all
contribute something and over time they
are safer and more respectful of people and
the environment.
Natural gas is and will be necessary:
not only due to its capacity for generating
power. We should remember that of
all the sources for conventional power
generation, natural gas is the most
energy efficient for combined cycles, and
therefore produces less CO2 than any
other type of fuel.
Countries without natural gas reserves
need to import it, either via pipelines, or
when distance and topography make that
impossible, by sea, using LNG tankers.
These LNG importing countries will
need to diversify their supply sources,
to avoid becoming dependent on a single
supply line which could lead to shortages.
Remember what happened in Poland, where
their only source of gas was a pipeline, or
what is currently going on in Ukraine, for
example. In the globalized world we live in,
you need to have some type of independent
supply for strategic materials like natural
gas. This independence comes from
diversifying your supply source.
Countries will thus need to build not just
regasification plants, but strategic storage
and pipelines to go with them.
On top of this, global demand for
regasification will progressively increase,
so installation times will need to be shorter.
This last point is one of the reasons we
started developing our FSRUs: storage and
regasification units that float on the open sea.
This is a modular concept capable of supplying
geographical regions that for one reason or
another, cannot build land based regasification
plants. The advantages include the ability to
significantly cut down design and construction
times, and in addition, the flexibility they offer
both in how they refuel and how they store
the gas in a way that can be adapted to each
customer’s specific needs.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
9
Tribune
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Masdar’s Managing Director and CEO
A succesful collaboration
The tie-up with SENER is in line with Masdar’s vision to make
Abu Dhabi the pre-eminent source of renewable energy, knowledge,
development and implementation.
MASDAR
MASDAR IS ABU
DHABI’S MULTIFACETED INITIATIVE
ADVANCING THE
DEVELOPMENT,
COMMERCIALIZATION
AND DEPLOYMENT OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY
TECHNOLOGIES AND
SOLUTIONS. THE
COMPANY SERVES
AS A LINK BETWEEN
TODAY’S FOSSIL-FUEL
ECONOMY AND THE
ENERGY ECONOMY
OF THE FUTURE
— DEVELOPING
THE ‘GREENPRINT’
FOR HOW WE WILL
LIVE AND WORK
TOMORROW. BACKED
BY THE STABILITY
AND REPUTATION
OF THE MUBADALA
DEVELOPMENT
COMPANY, AN
INVESTMENT
VEHICLE OF THE
GOVERNMENT OF
ABU DHABI, MASDAR
IS DEDICATED TO THE
EMIRATE’S LONGTERM VISION FOR THE
FUTURE OF ENERGY.
10
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
pain, like Abu Dhabi, has identified
renewable energy as an important pillar
of its long-term economic strategy and
is currently one of the world’s leaders in power
capacity from CSP plants (582 MW).
Joining hands with SENER, one of Spain’s
leading providers of innovative solutions in
engineering, construction and systems integration
has been a great success.
Bringing the Gemasolar project — the world’s
first commercial molten salt plant with central
tower receiver — out of the laboratory into
commercial operations, is not just an achievement
for us but a breakthrough for the global solar
energy sector. Organizations across the world
are looking closely at this technology and the
potential benefits in other countries.
Besides providing its financial expertise
and equity, Masdar is ideally placed to connect
Torresol Energy with companies in the MENA
region keen to invest in the clean technology
development sector.
The benefits of the project for Spain were felt
locally and internationally. Gemasolar created
more than 1,000 jobs during construction and 50
skilled jobs for operation and maintenance for
local residents at the peak of Europe’s economic
crisis. On a global scale, it has drawn the
interest of representatives of the European
Union, the US, Australia and the Arab League
S
BIOGRAPHY IN BRIEF
Sultan Al Jaber is the
Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of Masdar,
Abu Dhabi’s pioneering
renewable energy initiative
launched in 2006. He also
serves as the UAE Special
Envoy for Energy and Climate
Change and is Assistant
Minister of Foreign Affairs
at the UAE Ministry of
Foreign Affairs – heading the
Directorate of Energy and
and picked up several awards.
Knowledge transfer to the implementation
of future projects will ultimately benefit
both nations to realize their intention of becoming
global renewable energy leaders.
Climate Change. In 2009,
Dr. Al Jaber was invited by
the United Nations’ Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon to serve
as a member of the United
Nations’ Advisory Group on
Energy and Climate Change
(AGECC). In 2011, Dr. Al
Jaber was once again asked
to join the UN Secretary
General’s ‘High-level Group on
Sustainable Energy for All’.
He is Chairman of the Abu
Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC),
Chairman of Abu Dhabi Media
Investment Corp., Chairman
of Sky News Arabia, Vice
Chairman of the UAE Federal
Health Authority and serves
on the boards of the Advanced
Technology Investment
Company (ATIC), ALDAR
Properties and ZonesCorp.
Dr. Al Jaber holds a PhD in
Business and Economics from
the UK and an MBA and a
BSc in Chemical Engineering
from the US.
Up to
date:
Space
IXV - EXPERIMENTAL RE-ENTRY VEHICLE
MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY
PROGRESS IN THE SEOSAT/INGENIO
GALILEO IOV LAUNCHED
Aeronautics and Vehicles
CONTRACTS WITH AIRBUS
HEALTH MONITORING
Defense and Security
RBS 70 NG SYSTEM
WIMAAS PROGRAM
New Markets
HECTOR SYSTEM
THERAEDGE PROJECT
Civil
TRANSMONTANA HIGHWAY
LUSAIL TRAMWAY
SAN SEBASTIAN METRO
ORAN METRO
HIGH SPEED MEDITERRANEAN CORRIDOR
RAIL BELTWAY FOR MORELIA
Architecture
LA SAGRERA - SANT ANDREU LINEAR PARK
Power and Process
VALLE 1 AND VALLE 2 SOLAR PLANTS
BICENTENARIO COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANT
DUNKIRK REGASIFICATION PLANT
SENERTROUGH-1
Marine
FORAN V70 APPLICATIONS
CSDDC AGREEMENT
SOUTH KOREA COMMERCIAL LOCATION
FORAN IN LA NAVAL
ASTILLEROS DE MURUETA
FORAN IN THE SHIP OF THE YEAR 2010 IN NORWAY
ASMAR REACTIVATES THE FORAN LICENSES
Group
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
TORRESOL ENERGY
ITP - INDUSTRIA DE TURBOPROPULSORES
IXV: experimental
re-entry vehicle
The IXV (Intermediate eXperimental
Vehicle) is an experimental atmospheric
re-entry vehicle that forms part of
ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory
Programme (FLPP). Within the broad
field of critical technologies of interest
for this type of mission, special attention
has been paid to the in-flight Guidance,
Navigation and Control (GNC) system;
in particular, to guidance strategies, the
utilization of inertial navigation with
GPS reinitialization, and the combined
use of reaction motors and aerodynamic
actuators (flaps).
SENER is the principal contractor for the
GNC and Flight Management subsystem.
The industrial consortium formed
by SENER, Deimos Space and GMV is
responsible for the entire detailed design,
integration and verification process.
Recently, SENER signed a contract
for phase D of the project, which includes
development and verification of the
GNC and Flight Management subsystem.
The principal milestones for this
new Phase D will be the Subsystem
Qualification tests (SS-QR), the System
Acceptance tests (S-AR) and the
Operational Readiness Review (S-ORR).
Design activities for IXV began in
2008, and the System Critical Design
Review (CDR) was completed at
the end of March 2011, which also marked
the start of Phase D. Launch of the IXV
vehicle is forecast for the end of 2013,
with liftoff aboard the Vega launcher
from the European Spaceport at Kourou,
in French Guiana. After reaching an
altitude of 450 km (280 miles), it will
begin its return flight to Earth, until its
smooth and safe touchdown in the
Pacific Ocean.
In the image: artistic view of the IXV in its
re-entry phase to the atmosphere.
12
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
High-Gain
Antenna Gimbal
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL),
NASA’s most recent mission to Mars,
was launched at the end of 2011. It
consists of a planetary exploration
rover known as ‘Curiosity’ that will
reach Mars in 2012. Its mission is
to examine rocks to determine the
geological processes that formed them,
to study the Martian atmosphere,
and to determine the distribution and
circulation of water and carbon dioxide
in any state: solid, liquid or gas.
As part of a technical collaboration
agreement between the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) in the US and the
Center for the Development of Industrial
Technology (CDTI) in Spain, SENER’s
participation in this mission was the
development of the pointing mechanism,
PRIMARY PAYLOAD INSTRUMENT
Progress in the
SEOSAT
INGENIO
project
Image of the instrument under SENER
responsibility mounted on the
SEOSAT/INGENIO satellite’s principal
module, courtesy of EADS-CASA
Espacio. This photograph shows the
excellent work of the SENER team on
the project to date.
or gimbal, for the high-gain antenna
(HGAG). The HGAG allows bidirectional
communication between the rover on
Mars and tracking stations on Earth.
The pointing mechanism has two
degrees of freedom, elevation over
azimuth, and is integrated on the rover
platform to point the antenna precisely
toward Earth. An actuator moves
each axis independently to achieve the
required velocity and accuracy. The
gimbal also incorporates a hold down and
release mechanism, which will be released
once the rover is on the Martian surface.
SENER’s work on this NASA program
was carried out successfully within the
anticipated schedule.
Above: HGAG installed in the Curiosity rover
that will travel to Mars.
AOCS SUBSYSTEM
Galileo IOV
launched
The first two satellites of the Galileo InOrbit Validation constellation, GIOVE 1
and GIOVE 2, were launched on board the
Soyuz rocket from the European Spaceport
in Kourou, French Guiana. For almost
five years, SENER has participated in the
Space Segment Systems Engineering team
at Astrium-Germany, in Ottobrunn, with
technical responsibility for the AOCS (Attitude
& Orbit Control System) subsystem. SENER
has also been involved in activities related to
the architecture of the security system, in both
the Space segment (definition of flight security
units), and in the Mission and Satellite Control
segments (supervision of the development
of security elements, up to their complete
integration in the system).
© ESA
START OF PHASE D
MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY
© EADS-CASA Espacio
© ESA
© NASA
Up-to-date: Space
© AIRBUS MILITARY
Up-to-date: Aeronautics and Vehicles
70 and 71, where various front and rear
fittings of the aircraft that join the HTP
to the empennage or tail of the A350 are
assembled. SENER is also responsible for
the tools used in HTP drilling operations
for the assembly of the wingtip and rear
fittings. The project is expected to be
completed by December 2011.
CONTRACTS WITH AIRBUS
Participation in
iconic projects
SENER maintains a close collaboration
with Airbus through participation in
several of its most representative models.
In addition to development work on the
A380, in recent years the company
has participated in other projects that are
mentioned below.
AIRBUS A350 XWB
SENER has collaborated with Airbus in
the structural design of the A350XWB
from the very initial stages of the program.
First, in the conceptual design of the main
landing gear doors; this design included, as
major innovative element, a monolithic skin
in carbon fiber. Later, in the preliminary
ACTUATION 2015
Health
Monitoring in
Control and
Actuation
Systems
Health Monitoring technology, or the
monitoring of the health of electromechanical
systems, entails the control, diagnosis,
and prognosis of the operating function of
actuators in order to optimize their operation.
This means savings in maintenance,
replacements and repair tasks through the
use of intelligent systems plus a reduction
in spare parts, while always maintaining the
required reliability of the system.
SENER began the first prototypes in
design of the belly fairing and section 19.1,
both with an extensive use of composite
materials. Currently, SENER is responsible
for the manufacturing engineering
deliveries of carbon fiber pieces for both
structures.
The company has also carried out
the Wing Stringer Line project, or spars
production cell, where it is responsible
for one of the three work systems, Work
System A (WSA), in which carbon-fiber
laminates are generated and cut to the
required dimensions for each spar. Airbus
has planned the construction of versions
800, 900, and 1000 of the A350 XWB
aircraft so that the three versions should
be able to be manufactured flexibly in the
required line. The project is expected to be
completed by July 2012.
Lastly, in the final assembly of the
horizontal tailplane (HTP) of the A350
XWB, SENER is carrying out the design
and turn-key manufacturing of stations
AIRBUS MILITARY
Since 2007, SENER has been collaborating
with Airbus Military in the cabin noise
reduction program for the CASA C295, a
tactical transport aircraft propelled by two
turboprop motors. The C295 in its maritime
patrol configuration has the most ambitious
noise reduction targets, which has led
Airbus Military to develop, in collaboration
with SENER, a series of interior-acousticfield minimization solutions of this type.
AIRBUS A30X
Since 2011, SENER has also been a partner
in the A30X development program of
future aircraft, which is focused on the
use of open-rotor motors and the
integration of composite materials. Due
to the important acoustic impact related to
open rotor motors, Airbus is developing,
in collaboration with SENER, optimized
structural solutions that allow the reduction
of acoustic impact and thus improve the
acoustic-comfort levels in the cabin.
In the image: acoustic measures
in the framework of the C295 Airbus
Military program.
2008, through projects financed by the
Basque Government and the Center for
the Development of Industrial Technology
(CDTI), in Spain. The first results were
presented in May 2010 at the INSA
(Institut National des Sciences Appliquées)
conference in Toulouse, France, and, more
recently, at the AIRTEC conference held in
Frankfurt in November 2011.
These earlier studies have allowed
SENER to participate in Actuation 2015,
a program started in November 2011 and
financed by the European Commission
within its Seventh Framework Program.
Actuation 2015 brings together 55
companies from the sector with the
aim of modularizing and standardizing
electromechanical actuators and, especially,
developing Health Monitoring systems. In
this latest activity, SENER is leading the
project together with BAE Systems.
Above: microEMA with Health Monitoring
system. Below: Health Monitoring module.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
13
RBS 70 NG VSHORAD
Design
authority and
sole supplier of
the SMU
Saab, business area Dynamics officially
presented recently the RBS 70 NG
system, the new generation of the
VSHORAD (Very SHOrt-Range Air
Defense) system RBS 70. Saab Dynamics
originally developed this system in
the 70s, and it uses a laser beam to
guide the missile to the target. Its all
target capability allows the system
to successfully combat airplanes,
helicopters, cruise missiles, Unmanned
Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) and even
armoured air and ground targets.
RBS 70 NG system is composed of a
stand on which the sight is assembled.
The missile is attached on top of the
sight and once fired, it uses a laser beam
projected by the sight, via a stabilized
mirror - the SMU unit - to direct itself
towards the target. It has an effective
intercept range of 8 km with an altitude
coverage above 5 km. It employs a
guiding technique known as Laser Beam
Riding, which is practically unjammable.
The RBS 70 NG system presents a
new generation sighting system with
new functions and features such as
the automatic tracker function, a more
intuitive user interface and a 24/7
performance. Moreover, this new version
has managed to considerably reduce the
weight of the sight, to almost half of the
original one, allowing greater mobility.
SENER participates in this system
as design authority and sole supplier of
one of the key pieces of equipment of
the sight, the SMU (Stabilized Mirror
Unit). This unit has two main functions:
on the one hand, to direct the laser beam
according to the commands received
from the sight and, on the other, to keep
WIMAAS PROGRAM
Future unified European maritime
surveillance system
SENER is participating in the WIMAAS
(Wide Maritime Area Airborne
Surveillance) program, a project that is
part of the European Seventh Framework
Program and that aims to create a future
European maritime surveillance system.
This project, in which 14 companies and
European institutions from ten countries
are participating, consists of establishing an
optimized system for maritime surveillance
from the air with reduced operating
costs and with greater autonomy and
efficiency than current systems. One of the
situations being studied consists of utilizing
Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAV) or
vehicles with the smallest crew possible.
In this program, SENER is responsible
for the work package to study the
onboard data processing methods and
is also actively participating in others,
such as the identification and analysis
of data acquisition systems. SENER’s
contributions also include the development
of a genetic algorithm for sizing and
optimization of the necessary resources
14
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
for maritime surveillance depending on
area conditions.
Last summer, SENER participated
in an experiment of the program at the
Experimentation Center (CEDEA) of the
National Institute of Aerospace Technology
(INTA) located in El Arenosillo, in the
Huelva province of Spain. SENER was
responsible for organization and logistics
© Saab AB, All rights reserved
Up-to-date: Defense and Security
the laser beam stabilized in the presence
of other external sources of movement.
The SMU uses state-of-the-art
components and technology and has
been successfully developed by SENER,
as proven during the international
demonstration of the system performed
by Saab Dynamics on September 6 and
7 in Karlskoga (Sweden), where several
members of SENER and a delegation
from the Spanish Ministry of Defense
attended.
In the image: Stabilized Mirror Unit (SMU),
developed by SENER, inside the sight.
for this test. Other participants were
INTA, through its contribution of
opto-electronics systems for tracking,
and the Guardia Civil, with its External
Surveillance Integrated System (SIVE)
to locate a previously defined target. The
experiment consisted of using a UAV to
locate a target in an emergency situation.
Its development was a success and
allowed SENER’s WIMAAS work team to
draw some useful conclusions.
The WIMAAS project is nearly
completed, and its results will be published
in the next few months.
In the image: participants in the WIMAAS
experiment.
Up-to-date: New markets
SOLAR TECHNOLOGY
HECTOR heliostat cleaning system
Central-receiver-tower power plants
have a large number of heliostats whose
reflective surfaces, which are composed
of mirrors, focus solar rays on a receiver
located at the top of a tower. To take full
advantage of solar energy, it is extremely
BIOMEDICINE
TheraEDGE
Diagnostic
Equipment
NTE-SENER is participating in the
European TheraEDGE project within
the European Commission’s Seventh
Framework Program. The aim of this
project is to develop point-of-care testing
equipment for respiratory infections,
based on the identification of DNA.
This diagnostic equipment will
be capable of carrying out this DNA
identification by marking it with
fluorochromes, without amplification
of the sample. Unlike equipment being
used today, the TheraEDGE equipment
will perform the entire bioassay in a
single automatically controlled cartridge
that contains all of the necessary
reagents. This system, which was given
the name ‘lab on a chip,’ thus allows
the identification of up to 20 different
important to maintain maximum
reflectivity of these mirrors.
One of the most important factors
affecting reflectivity is cleanliness.
Therefore, cleaning the mirrors in the
solar fields is a basic maintenance task
pathogens in just one assay. The entire
process is completed in 30 minutes, which
allows the physician to make an accurate
diagnosis in a short period of time in order
to decide the most appropriate treatment.
In this project, NTE-SENER is
responsible for working package
IN THERAEDGE, the physician takes a
sputum sample from the patient with
a swab and places it in the cartridge.
The cartridge is in turn placed in
the instrument, which activates the
reaction to process the sample. In
this way, the sample will arrive at a
final state where the diagnosis can
be performed by processing an image
taken with a highdefinition camera.
The interaction
between the
instrument and the
cartridge is through
the following
parameters:
e control of air
pressure in 20 ports;
e activation of four
rotary valves;
with a direct impact on the plant’s
electrical production.
To address this need, SENER has
patented, designed, and developed
HECTOR (Heliostat Cleaning Team
Oriented Robot), an innovative heliostatcleaning system. The system consists of
a fleet of robots, where each robot can
autonomously clean a complete heliostat.
The operator performs the distribution,
support and maintenance tasks for the
fleet of robots. This concept allows the
robots to clean simultaneously a group of
heliostats, assisted by just one operator,
which optimizes the process and
minimizes operating costs.
Thanks to its innovative design, HECTOR
achieves an excellent degree of
cleanliness with minimum water
consumption. This has been validated in tests
performed at the Gemasolar
plant, owned by Torresol Energy. In addition,
HECTOR can function during the night,
meaning there is no disruption of energy
collection during the day; moreover, it also
takes advantage of the heliostats’ horizontal
position after sunset. Thus, HECTOR does
not require any special maneuvering or
positioning of the heliostats.
In the picture: a HECTOR system’s robot
performing a test in Gemasolar.
number six, which covers development
of the detection operating platform and
complete system integration. Working
in collaboration with NTE-SENER are 15
other partners from nine countries.
TheraEDGE is a four-year project, to
be completed at the end of 2012.
e three temperature-controlled areas
(40-95 ºC / 104-203 ºF);
e four points to detect the passage of
fluid;
e one magnetic separation zone;
e four cameras for the detection of
fluorochromes; and
e control of the entire test sequence.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
15
Up-to-date: Civil
TRANSMONTANA HIGHWAY
Inauguration of the
first three sections
The first three sections of the Transmontana
Highway in Portugal, which cover a total
of 20 km (12.4 mi), were inaugurated on
September 14.
The Transmontana Highway is a
roadway 135 km (84 mi) in length, under
concession to Autoestradas XXI – a
joint venture formed by the Portuguese
company Soares da Costa and the
Spanish company Globalvia (FCC).
Two sections of the highway have
electronic toll collection, while the rest
of the highway has shadow tolls.
SENER carried out the complete
construction project for this highway, with
the exception of the intelligent transport
systems (ITS).
INDEPENDENT CHECKING ENGINEER
recently established company whose function
is to organize all railway development in Qatar,
including railroad and urban transport.
The Lusail tramway project includes the
following works: four operating tramway lines,
17.8 km of double track at grade, 8.2 km of
single track at grade, 6.6 km of underground
double track in cut-and-cover tunnel, 22
stations at grade, seven underground
stations (four in the Marina District, one in
Entertainment City, another in Energy City,
and the other in the Qatar Petroleum District),
a viaduct that crosses the Qatar North
Highway and the regional railway to include an
elevated interconnection station, and a depot,
a maintenance building, and test track. It is
worth emphasizing that 30 tramway vehicles
use catenary-free technology.
SENER’s work on the Lusail tramway
began in October 2009, when the company
was awarded the first phase of the contract,
which consisted of a general review of the
conceptual design of the project. In May 2010,
SENER was awarded an expansion of the
contract for ICE of the detailed design and
supervision of the construction of the cut-andcover tunnel. Following this project, which
is expected to last 20 months, a possible
expansion of the ICE work for the stations
and civil engineering works is anticipated.
Tramway for
the New City of
Lusail, in Qatar
SENER is working on a tramway project for
the new city of Lusail, in Qatar. Specifically,
as Independent Checking Engineer (ICE), the
company is performing the civil engineering
inspection of the detailed design and the
construction supervision for the tramway’s cutand-cover tunnel. This project was awarded
to SENER by Qatari Diar Vinci Construction
(QDVC), a joint venture between a Qatari
company and the French firm Vinci. The final
customer for the tramway project is the Qatar
Railways Development Company (QRDC), a
16
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
In both images: two sections of the highway.
In the image: construction works of the cutand-cover tunnel of the tramway.
Up-to-date: Civil
SAN SEBASTIAN METRO
Construction project for the
La Concha–Morlans section
During recent years, the San Sebastián
metropolitan area has experienced
a large increase in road mobility
problems. These problems are due to
the increasing use of private vehicles, a
trend in San Sebastian that the supply
of public transport has not been able to
counteract.
For this reason, the Department of
Housing, Transportation, and Public Works
of the Basque Government has asked the
agent of the regional railway network
ETS (Euskal Trenbide Sarea) to proceed
with defining the actions necessary to
convert the existing railway lines to a highperformance metro system.
NEW CONTRACT FROM EMA
First metro line
in Oran
Enterprise Métro d’Alger (EMA), the
Algerian public metro company which is
responsible for urban transport and comes
under Ministry of Transport authority, has
awarded SENER, through an international
public bid, the studies contract for the first
metro line in Oran.
This contract, signed on September
11, 2011, includes the preliminary study
and the basic and detailed project plan
for the following works: architecture
Currently, San Sebastián has several
railway lines managed by ETS and ADIF
that connect the capital with neighboring
towns and the larger cities of the Basque
Country with the rest of Spain. Among
these is the Topo (‘the Mole’), which
operates as a local train with 14 stations,
connecting the Amara neighborhood of
San Sebastián with the French city of
Hendaye.
Starting with the existing lines, ETS
wrote a feasibility study that proposed
the construction of an underground metro
section, 5.54 km (3.44 mi) in length and
in the heart of San Sebastián, with five
new stations. This new underground
and civil engineering, track, power
supply, electromechanical systems,
signaling systems, driving control,
telecommunications, central command
post, and a study of rolling stock. The
project also includes a systems operation
and maintenance study. It is therefore
one of the most complete metro studies
ever accomplished by SENER.
The initial estimate, to be confirmed
during the preliminary study, takes into
account 17 km of underground line and a
total of 20 stations. The project is expected
to last 30 months.
In addition to this project, at the
request of EMA and within the Ensitrans
consortium, SENER has also performed
design work, supported the bidding
section connects the existing Bilbao – San
Sebastian and San Sebastian – Hendaye
lines, unifying them in a single line, and
brings the stations closer to the more
populated areas of the city, improving the
quality of the transport supply.
After preparing this feasibility study,
ETS invited bids for the construction
of the new section, in the form of three
independent contracts. The construction
project is the last stage of the design
work and constitutes the document that
serves as the basis for contracting the
construction work.
In June 2011, ETS awarded a contract
to SENER to draft the construction project
for one of the sections of the San Sebastián
metro, which includes La Concha – Morlans
section, 1.6 km (about one mile) in length
and the Centro-La Concha and the Easo
stations. Currently, the SENER team is
performing a study of alternative routes and
a geotechnical campaign, with the aim of
defining the conditions of the soil where the
metro is planned. The term to complete the
project is 12 months.
In the images, on the left: the La Concha
seafront, in San Sebastian; on the right:
downtown San Sebastian.
process, and provided project management
(in progress) in Algeria for the Oran
tramway, as well as for three extensions of
the Algiers metro.
In the image: corridor alternatives in metro
Oran study.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
17
Up-to-date: Civil
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Platform for the High Speed
Mediterranean Corridor,
Los Mayorales - Almería section
SENER has been awarded, in a
temporary joint venture with GeoConsult,
the design contract for the Los
Mayorales-Almería section of the High
Speed Mediterranean Corridor platform
project. As a result of this contract,
RAIL BELTWAY FOR MORELIA
Supervision
and construction
of the rail
beltway in
Morelia,
Michoacán
Last October, the Mexican Secretary
of Communication and Transportation
(SCT) awarded SENER the Project
Supervision and Construction contract
for supervising the blueprints, final
design and construction of the
rail beltway for the city of Morelia,
and a new switchyard for the State of
Michoacán.
The SCT hopes this will solve a traffic
congestion problem in the city that
currently causes blockage times of up
to 12 minutes, affecting the main traffic
18
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
SENER will carry out the preliminary
design and the construction project.
This high speed rail section is
part of a global project included in
the PEIT (Spanish Strategic Plan for
Infrastructure and Transport), which is
in up to 14 city intersections, directly
impacting 250,000 inhabitants and
causing train delays.
The contract involves relocating
the switchyard and 80 km of rail
beltway by moving the operations out
of the downtown Morelia area. The
SCT estimates the project will shorten
the commute time for cars by 35% by
eliminating the congestion caused by the
current rail route which cuts through
downtown. The new route will stay within
the corridor linking the Lázaro Cárdenas
port on the Pacific with Nuevo Ladero
on the US border, and will be part of the
NAFTA Rail Project.
Supervising the project will consist of
four modules: first, conducting
feasibility studies of the route and
assessing the mobility of the affected
roadways, and also aiding the SCT
in freeing up the right of way. The
second module will consist of drafting
and assisting the SCT with the bids
for the final design contracts and the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The final two modules will involve
coordinating and tracking the projects
trying to link the cities of Murcia and
Almería. The two-ways section crosses
the boroughs of Almería, Viator and
Huércal in the province of Almería, with
an approximate length of 7 km.
There are two singular elements of
design in this section: An 800 meter
long tunnel under La Juaida (Viator)
industrial area, and a 500 meter viaduct
over the Andarax River.
As indicated in the feasibility study,
the layout for this section is mainly
based on the corridor defined by the A-7
motorway. The intention is to reduce the
impact on greenhouse farming, which is
common in this part of Almería. Given
the proximity of the city, there are many
buildings and, especially, an industrial
area nearby that requires unique
solutions. The rail line is also close to
the sea, where there are periods of heavy
rainfalls requiring special attention to
important streams, mainly the Andarax
River, the most important waterway in
the province.
SENER started works on this design
contract in June 2011, and the expected time
frame for the project is 24 months.
In the image: route of the Los MayoralesAlmería section of the High Speed
Mediterranean Corridor platform project.
and their construction, as well as physical
and budgetary supervision of the work
in progress.
The timeframe for finishing this
project is three years, divided into three
stages: start of supervision in October
2011, start of construction in July 2012
and completion of construction in
October 2014.
In the image: route of the rail beltway in
Morelia.
Up-to-date: Architecture
CAMÍ COMTAL PARK
Master plan and detailed
design for the La Sagrera-Sant
Andreu Linear Park
An architecture and engineering team
made up of SENER, Alday Jover
Arquitectura y Paisaje, RCR Arquitectes
and West 8 has been awarded the contract
for the master plan and detailed design
for La Sagrera Linear Park. The project’s
developer is BSAV, a partnership between
ADIF, the Catalan regional government
and the Barcelona City Council established
to perform the railway and civil
engineering for the future La Sagrera high
railway station in Barcelona.
The park is being built above the
underground train entrance to the future
high railway station. The rail link is
underground and spans roughly 3,500 m,
and the 250,000 m2 park will be used to
integrate it into the city.
The project will implement the Camí
Comtal Park project proposed in the
bidding process by the architecture and
engineering team.
The park promises to revive the ancient
Rec Comtal, a hydraulic infrastructure
that used to supply water to the city of
Barcelona built in the Roman time and lost
in the beginnings of the XIX century. Thus,
a crucial nexus will be recovered between
nature and the urban center, the ocean and
the mountains: a natural path where humans
will be the protagonists of a new era in a
more habitable and sustainable metropolis.
A more slow-paced segment will be added
to the Cerdà schedule as a counterpoint to
the hectic urban commotion of the Diagonal,
Barcelona’s longest avenue.
The project will be built around the
area defined by the corridor, but will lend
personalized touches to each of the five
areas in the master plan.
The Sant Andreu area will include
the Sant Andreu Mosaic, the Estadella
Gardens and the Maquinista Orchards. A
floral slope is proposed for the gateway
to the urban center where there used
to be a railroad trench, illuminating the
neighborhood. Further from the vicinity of
the station, the Estadella Gardens will be
planted with fruit trees. This will be the
neighborhood’s green haven.
SENER’S WORK on this
project will be performed in
two phases: The first phase
will involve participating in
creating the master plan
and conceptual design
for the structures and
The Bac de Roda area will be the first part
of Barcelona seen by passengers arriving
by high railway trains. It will be a botanical
garden providing passengers with a green
welcome to the city while at the same time
highlighting emblematic buildings like
Sagrada Família church and Agbar Tower
framed by Bac de Roda bridge.
The La Sagrera area, the continuation
of Bac de Roda from La Sagrera station,
will be the park’s widest segment, making it
possible to create a sheltered space where a
wide variety of activities can be enjoyed.
Lastly, the Taller Talgo and Taller
Integria areas will be recreational agoras. As
in La Sagrera, the park will widen, and new
permanently sheltered recreational spaces
will be created.
The architecture and engineering team has
envisioned a design for each of these areas
that integrates fruit trees and other types of
vegetation selected for their shadow-casting
ability, together with aromatic shrubs and
meadows with flowers. The materials selected
for the park’s fixtures will then be based on the
flora surrounding them. The spaces will also be
adorned with sculptures, with special attention
being paid to natural lighting.
The scope of the project also includes
facilities for a playroom, a daycare center, a
rest home and a community center. Other
facilities that have been proposed include
restaurants in the Sant Andreu Mosaic
and more culturally focused neighborhood
facilities at the end of the Santa Coloma
Recreational agoras. Greenhouses are also
planned along the open part of Ferran Junoy
street, in the area where the gardens and
the fruit trees will be planted. The time for
finishing the contract will be 14 months.
In the images: artistic views of the future
Camí Comtal Park.
installations, and estimating
the budget for the work.
The second phase will be
the detailed design for
phases 1, 2 and 3 of the
park, which will include
structural calculations,
facilities sewage and rain
drain system, electric
and telecommunications
networks, technical
specifications, the project
budget, and health and
safety requirements.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
19
Up-to-date: Power and Process
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS
VALLE 1 AND VALLE 2 POWER PLANTS
Spain’s largest ever parallel
construction of dual solar power
plants with an EPC contract
The Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants, two
solar power projects promoted by
Torresol Energy, are about to enter
into commercial operation. These
projects consist of two identical 50 MWe
parabolic trough plants, each located in
San José del Valle (Cádiz, Spain). Both
plants are equipped with thermal storage
which will allow each of them to continue
producing power, even when there is no
solar radiation for up to 7.5 hours.
The EPC (Engineering, Procurement
and Construction) or turnkey contractors
for the two projects are two consortia held
50% by SENER and 50% by Cobra. SENER
is in charge of both consortia as project
manager, and is providing 100% of the
technology and engineering for the plants.
Construction on Valle 1 and Valle 2
officially began in December 2009, and is
20
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
estimated to be completed in December
2011 when the plants are launched for
commercial operation.
From the outset, the two plants were
built in parallel, with the logistics this
implies: processing various types of
supplies (purchasing, manufacturing,
inspection, authorization of shipments
to the site, transportation, receiving,
and on-site storage), overseeing multiple
contractors, quality control of the
execution and, above all, planning and
supervising construction as it progresses.
This type of parallel construction has
made Valle 1 and Valle 2 a milestone in
the solar power industry.
It should also be noted that roughly
3,850 workers performed over 2,500,000
hours of work to build and launch the
twin projects.
Construction of the plants began in 2009
with the initial NTP (Notice to Proceed).
Up to that point, specific earth-moving
work had been conducted in the two solar
fields. Still, due to the heavy rainfall
occurring at the time, returning to the
site to continue the work was not an
option until late March, that is to say,
three months after the official start of
construction.
The first solar field collector (the
SCE or Solar Collector Element) was
assembled and installed in the solar field
in August 2010, and the last collector,
SCE number 14,976, was put in place in
April 2011. The rate of assembly reached
a peak of 120 collectors per day in the
assembly line.
A couple of weeks later, installation
of the 22,464 collector tubes (HCEs or
Heat Collector Elements) was completed.
7,488 12m sets of three 4 m tubes were
prefabricated in a workshop at site for
each plant. They were then transported
and mounted and soldered onto the
collectors in the solar field.
The tubes that distribute the
thermal oil throughout the solar field
Up-to-date: Power and Process
– approximately 60,000 inches worth
for each plant – were manufactured in
a shop in Almería from October 2010 to
February 2011, and their assembly was
completed on site before they could be
installed in the solar field.
In September 2010, the steam turbines
were positioned on their pedestals.
Cables were layed and connected in
parallel for the two solar fields in
order to supply the hydraulic power
units and the local controllers for the
collectors. Likewise, the civil engineering
was performed for the power plant
areas: underground networks, special
foundations (salt tanks, turbine
pedestals, oil reservoirs, etc.), buildings
and foundations for the other tanks and
devices, and metal frameworks
(tube racks).
Prefabrication and installation of the
pipes for the two power plant areas (75,000
inches for each plant) began at the end of
February of this year and was completed in
June for Valle 1 and in July for Valle 2. After the initial transfer of electrical
systems had been accomplished over the
course of the month of April 2011, the
commissioning team powered
the system on for the first time (essential
service boards, DC and uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) from 6.3 kV up
to low voltage). The pipes of the
mechanical systems were cleaned as each
system was completed: blowing air
onto the tubes in the solar field, blowing
air through the HTF (Heat Thermal
Fluid) and salt lines, and chemical
cleaning and air blowing of the water/
steam cycle lines.
Once the circuits were clean, the next
step was to fill the circuits with thermal
oil, using 2,300 tons for each plant. The
R&D PROJECTS. As part of SENER’s
in-house solar-power-technology
research and development (which has
made it the number one company in
the industry), the company is testing
two new prototypes in the Valle 2 plant:
a single-tank thermal storage system
and a loop with the SENERtrough 2
(SNT2) collector system.
The goal of the first project is to build
(80% achieved during this period)
and test a single-tank thermal storage
system that uses cold and hot salts
held in the same tank. The purpose of
this prototype is to test its features
and functions, and its insulated barrier
in particular. The single-tank system is
a scaled-down version of a system in
a commercial plant, and has a storage
capacity of roughly 2.5% of the storage
salts were also melted at that point:
a combination of sodium nitrate and
potassium nitrate, using 29,600 tons per
plant. At the same time, the various plant
systems were finalized, transferred and
put into service.
It bears mentioning that most of
the commissioning of the plants was
performed using power supplied by
generators (up to 8 MVA per plant),
since no external power connection was
available until mid-September 2011.
Since then, the plants are connected to
the 400 kV Spanish Electrical Network.
Not being able to use power from the
network for the internal commissioning
activities slowed down the final phase of
the projects.
The work planned for the remainder
of the year (when the plants are
scheduled to be completed), once the first
synchronization with the network of the
turbo generators has been completed,
includes work related to the adjustment
and joint operation of the various plant
systems (solar fields, thermal storage, oil
systems and thermal power plant) and
testing of the plants’ features.
In the previous page: power block of one
of the Valle plants, with the molten salt
tanks. In this page, above: general view of
the solar field; below: aerial view
of the power block. Below this lines: the
SENERtrough collector system.
capacity of Valle 2’s double tank.
The goal of the SNT2 loop is to install
(goal already achieved) and test a loop
consisting of SENERtrough 2-type
collectors in order to measure their
actual performance and compare it
with that of the SNT1. The SNT2 is
conceptually similar to the SNT1, but
is larger. It is a collector designed with
final product criteria for commercial
plants, and is projected to be able to
remain in the plant for the facility’s
entire lifespan.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
21
Up-to-date: Power and Process
EPC IN ARGENTINA
The
Bicentenario
combined-cycle
power plant in
Córdoba
© EDF
SENER is finalizing the EPC
(Engineering, Procurement and
Construction) or turnkey contract for the
500 MW, 132 KV Bicentenario combinedcycle thermal power plant which was
built in the city of Pilar in the province
of Córdoba (Argentina). In 2008, this
contract was awarded to SENER and
a corporate partner by the Empresa
Provincial de Energía de Córdoba.
The new plant has been installed next
to an old steam-cycwle power plant, and
represents a significant contribution
to the interconnected power system of
Argentina as a whole and Córdoba in
particular, due to the fact that along with
the power plant, a high-voltage power
line was built along with two transformer
substations in the provincial capital.
For this project, SENER performed
all of the basic and detailed engineering,
and also worked on the plant’s launch,
which was the direct responsibility of the
company. Together with Electroingeniería,
its partner in the consortium, SENER
has performed all of the project’s civil
engineering, electromechanical installation
and instrumentation.
Due to delays beyond their control,
the construction consortium agreed on
a new contractual timeframe different
from that of the initial contract, and is
now completing the final work. In mid2010 the plant’s two combustible gas
and diesel units entered into operation.
Its steam unit has already started up,
first synchronization is done and will
EPC CONTRACT IN GAS
Turnkey project for the Dunkirk
Regasification Plant
SENER has signed an LNG contract with
Dunkerque LNG, a subsidiary company of
EDF, for the development of a regasification
plant in the city of Dunkirk, in northern
France. SENER has been awarded this
EPC (Engineering, Procurement and
Construction) contract as part of the TS
LNG consortium made up of SENER
22
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
and Techint. SENER will coordinate the
consortium activity.
The Dunkirk Liquified Natural Gas
(LNG) regasification plant will have three
190,000 m3 storage tanks and will be able to
produce 13 billion m3 per annum of natural
gas, equaling a supply of 1.9 million m3(n)/h
(cubic meters per hour). It will be equipped
commence commercial operation at the
end of 2011.
The construction of this project represents
a giant milestone for SENER in Argentina
and Latin America, since it was one of the
first EPC contracts in the region that involved
creating a team of technical professionals in
Argentina with the capacity to oversee this
type of construction. With the Bicentenario
plant, SENER has laid a firm foundation
for continuing its operations in the regional
market with EPC type projects, which is
currently the most in-demand format in
markets around the world.
In the image: aerial view of the Bicentenario
combined-cycle power plant.
with a jetty, unloading arms and pipes,
storage tanks, systems for regasification and
gas emission, a BOG (boil-off gas) recovery
system, a flare stack, a seawater pump
system for vaporization, auxiliary systems,
and a series of buildings (offices, control
buildings, safety facilities, shops, etc.)
specifically designed for the operations.
Within the TS LNG consortium, SENER
will develop all of the basic and detailed
engineering, acquire equipment and build
civil-works constructions, buildings, jetty,
unloading pipes and the regasification
processing plant of the station and
coordinate with consortia in charge of tanks
and tunnel. It will also conduct all of the
activities for commissioning and start-up
of the facility. Construction will take place
over a period of four years, with the plant
being operational in 2015.
This new contract represents the
consolidation of TS LNG’s position
in Europe as a liquified natural gas
regasification plant company. As part of
this consortium, SENER has carried out
the EPC project of the Gate terminal in
Rotterdam (the Netherlands).
As with the Gate terminal, the design
of SENER’s Dunkirk plant will pay
particular attention to four main aspects:
security, the environment, availability
and versatility of the operation.
In the image: artistic view if the Dunkirk
regasification plant.
Up-to-date: Power and Process
has participated, and the 17th to use the
SENERtrough collector.
SENER currently manufactures 5 km
of SENERtrough collector every day.
Rolling out this product has significantly
increased the company’s industrial
capacity, which has in turn made it
possible to decrease drastically the
cost of installing parabolic trough solar
fields. On top of this, the optical quality
of the collectors SENER has produced
has continuously improved, as shown by
the latest measurements taken in the La
Africana solar power plant, located in
Palma del Río (Córdoba).
In both pictures: SENERtrough collector
system loops installed in the Villena solar
plant. Below this lines: deflectrometric
measurement of the SENERtrough
collector carried out at La Africana solar
power plant.
SENERTROUGH-1
Contract for new solar field in
Villena and optical quality
measurements in La Africana
SENER has just finished signing a
contract for a new solar field for the
Termosolar Villena joint venture made up
of FCC and Seridom. The plant is owned
by the Enerstar Villena company.
Located at the Villena (Alicante) city
limits, the plant is equipped with a 105loop solar field (343,350 sqm of mirror
surface) and a 50 MW turbine. The
limited amount of land available on the
property makes a larger solar field and
the use of a thermal storage
system impossible.
The project consists of supplying the
Solar Field in an EPC basis (Engineering,
Procurement and Construction) for the
105 solar-field loops, along with all of
their components: metal structures,
mirrors, absorber tubes, control boxes
and integrated system controls for
the solar field.
The Villena solar field is the second
field SENER has supplied for joint
ventures involving FCC, and the sixth
EPC field it has developed, having
previously supplied the Aste 1A and 1B
fields for Elecnor, Soluz Guzmán for FCCAbantia, Orellana for Acciona Energía and
La Africana for TSK-Ortiz. Meanwhile,
Villena is the 21st plant in which SENER
DEFLECTOMETRIC MEASUREMENT.
On October 20-21, CSP Services
– a spin-off of the German Aerospace
Center (DLR) – used deflectometry
to measure the optical quality of the
SENERtrough collector in the TSKOrtiz joint venture’s La Africana plant,
located in Córdoba.
Deflectometry consists of taking
pictures of the reflection of the
absorber tubes in the collector’s
mirrors from a distance of
approximately 40 m. The images are
later processed using software that
can determine the surface quality of
the parabolic mirrors.
This surface quality is then entered
into a ray-tracing program in
order to calculate the collector’s
‘interception factor’. This is the
parameter that determines the
collector’s optical quality, since it
indicates what percentage of rays
reach the absorber tube when
the collector is operating. The
SENERtrough collector has achieved
an interception factor of 98.5%,
an outstanding value, according to
CSP Services.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
23
Up-to-date: Marine
FORAN V70 APPLICATIONS
New tool in FORAN for the
optimization of solid model
routing of lines
In v70r1.0, machinery and outfitting
subsystem of FORAN counts with a new
tool for routing of pipes, ducts and cable
trays in solid model, that significantly
increases the efficiency of the design
comparing with routing commands
available up to now. This new tool allows the
progressive construction of lines by means
of straight segments and curves (elbows)
with solid model, making unnecessary the
creation of a polygonal that is afterwards
transformed in the corresponding line.
Additionally to the classic definition of a
line starting from an initial point, the new
tool allows the complete construction of
a line simultaneously both form its initial
and ending point, progressively growing
from both and closing the definition in
an intermediate point. For this closing
operation there exist automatic options
that minimize manual operations.
Once defined some default values, the
routing is performed interactively and
directly on the screen. Furthermore, the
designer has full control on the routing
direction and on the distance, having
the possibility at any moment to easily
change them. Meanwhile, the system
automatically generates all necessary
elbows and curves, adapting the straight
segments to the exact geometry of
the selected elbow and producing, this
way, the corresponding warning in
case of existing any inconsistency or
incompatibility.
Optionally, the system allows a
discrete change in the direction angle,
thus the final routing is fully adapted to
the commercial elbows available on stock.
ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES
The new tool also allows the definition
of auxiliary points, as well as the use of
significant point of existing elements, thus
facilitating the analysis of alternatives and
the definitive routing of the line.
Additionally, all already existing
auxiliary tools, as on-line clash checking,
manufacturability checking, compatibility
of connections, link with Pipes &
Instrumentation diagrams, etc. are also
available in this new solid model routing
procedure.
Furthermore, this new tool can be
used not only in the definition of new
lines, but also in the edition of existing
ones, even if these ones were routed with
the classic routing procedure by means of
polygonals and components.
Other new developments in machinery
and outfitting subsystem of FORAN,
related to lines routing and available in
v70r1.0 are, among others: automatic
deletion of flanges when inserting or
adding fittings, automatic cutting of
pipes and flanges insertion following
dimensional criteria, and manufacturability constraints warning upon definition
of spools.
In the image above: view of the engine
room in FORAN. In the image below: detail
of the FORAN solid model routing of lines.
24
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
Up-to-date: Marine
FORAN IN CHINA
SENER
collaborates with
the China Ship
Development
and Design
Center
SENER and China Ship Development
and Design Center (CSDDC) have signed
a Memorandum of Understand for the
implementation of the shipbuilding CAD/
CAM FORAN system in CSDDC and
for the collaboration in ship design and
engineering activities and other
marine related works.
The agreement has been signed in
Madrid at SENER headquarters, during a
visit of a delegation from CSDDC.
This center, which belongs to China
Shipbuilding Industry Corporation
(CSIC), is one of the most influential
design offices of the Chinese Shipbuilding
Industry. CSDDC has 50 years of
experience in the design and development
of all kind of ships and other marine
activities.
In the picture: the General Manager of
SENER Marine Business Unit, Luis García,
and the Deputy Director of CSDDC,
Desheng Rao, signing the agreement.
COMMERCIAL LOCATION
New office in South Korea
for commercial management and
technical support
SENER has set up a new office in Busan
to provide improved sales and technical
support to FORAN customer base in South
Korea and neighbour countries. Located at
the Centum IS Tower, landmark building
in Busan’s prosperous beachside Haeundae
district, the new SENER office is staffed
by an experienced and multidisciplinary
team of naval architects, including Country
Manager Mun-Seob Cho, Technical
Manager Doo-Jin Lee and Consultants MinBong Park and Yeong-Ho Kim.
This new office marks a major step forward in
SENER’s strategy to boost its marine systems
business in the area of Asia Pacific as it enters
the well-established Korean shipbuilding
market. Korea has six of the world’s ten largest
shipyards and over one hundred small and
medium sized shipyards. Approximately 80%
of Korean shipyards have been using 3D CAD
systems that sums up to about 20,000 licenses
for designing their ships.
Many Korean shipbuilders and design
subcontractors are expected to replace their
CAD systems in the near future. That is the
reason why SENER Korea is being set up
to better respond the increasing demand
for knowledge and services of FORAN and
subsequently to most efficiently convey
to SENER headquarters the functional
requirements of local shipbuilders.
In the picture, from right to left: Country
Manager Mun-Seob Cho, Technical Manager
Doo-Jin Lee and Consultants Min-Bong Park
and Yeong-Ho Kim. Above: the Centum IS
Tower building in Busan, where SENER new
office is located.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
25
Up-to-date: Marine
FORAN IN LA NAVAL
La Naval
Shipyard
develops a Fall
Pipe module
with FORAN v70
software
La Naval shipyard has recently installed
the new FORAN V70, in order to take
advantage of the new improvements and
innovations. While new modules and
applications are being installed, engineers
receive training courses of the new
developments. With a great engineering
capacity, including basic and detail
engineering, the shipyard can afford the
design of sophisticated vessels demanded
by the market.
La Naval shipyard, the largest private
shipyard in Spain which came out from
the stated-owned organization IZAR in
2006, counts with a long and successful
shipbuilding tradition with more than
100 years of history and more than 250
vessels build. Positioned in markets
where complex engineering design and
construction know-how are required,
La Naval shipyard has successfully
achieved the construction of several
vessels as gas carriers, large hopper
dredgers and off-shore vessels, like the
recent construction of an innovative fall
pipe vessel ‘Simon Stevin’, developed
completely with FORAN.
La Naval shipyard is currently
involved in the design and production of
the construction No. 340, a fall pipe and
mining vessel, with high performances
and unique in the market. As in other
projects, the shipyard is developing
the entire project with the CAD/CAM
shipbuilding system FORAN. The B340
vessel is intended to locate medium size
stones on the seabed through a guided
Finite Element
Model of two
dredgers
for Astilleros de
Murueta
26
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
In the image: a fall pipe and minning
vesel designed by La Naval.
areas. These results are impossible to be
obtained with a wire frame model.
The general cargo vessel Punta Begoña
was the first benefit of the enthusiasm with
which Astilleros de Murueta was founded
in 1943 in the River of Gernika, Spain,
enthusiasm that remains untouched and
is encouraged with the experience of more
than 170 vessels built since then.
MARINE ENGINEERING
SENER has been hired by Murueta
Shipyard (Astilleros de Murueta) for the
creation of a global finite elements model
of two sectional dredgers of 1,500 m3 and
2,600 m3, and with shipyard number 293
and 294 respectively and both technologically advanced and innovative. SENER
will also develop the basic engineering of
the central body for the nº 294, with the
close collaboration of the design office of
Astilleros de Murueta.
The study to be undertaken by
SENER is the dredgers structural
analysis in navigation with a wave with
120º out of phase and from the bow. The
pipe with a maximum depth of 1,700
meters. These stones, which in total
may weigh up to a maximum of 32,000
tons, are transported on the ship in two
large hoppers located on the deck. The
B340 aims to cover submarine cable or
pipe lines, or fixing marine exploitation
structures associated with gas and/or oil.
La Naval shipyard delivered in
2010 a similar ship, the B333 ‘Simon
Stevin’, but in this project it has made
important changes to improve their final
performance in the new B340.
With a length overall of 191,50 m, a
breadth of 40 m, and a design draught
of 7,50 m, the new fall pipe vessel has a
32,500 t of capacity and it is equipped
with five diesel generators. The stateof-the-art vessel has two stones storage
units on the main deck, two excavator
cranes, a fall pipe module and two
conveyor belts as well as a helicopter
deck. The fall pipe is equipped with
four azimuthing propulsion propellers,
two bow thrusters and two retractable
azimuthing thrusters.
La Naval Shipyard and SENER have a long
tradition of collaboration, after more than 15
years since the first installation of FORAN.
In the image: FORAN design for the
two dredgers.
ship behavior will be study in sagging and
hogging conditions and torsion stresses
with waves from bulwark and quarter. The
scope of the work includes the creation of
a complete ship finite elements model for
both dredgers from the basic engineering
drawings developed by the shipyard,
as well as local models for the cranes
complying with ALM and ALS regulations
and the shell opening for the suction pipe,
providing solution for new operational
challenges within the project.
SENER has also conducted a structural
study of the supports of the bottom valves
and the deck supports of its actuators, with
the aim of analyze the stress concentration
TECHNICAL FEATURES. About the
main particulars of the dredgers,
they have a load capacity of 1,500 m3
and 2,600 m3 respectively and class
Hopper Dredger, Unrestricted Nav,
AUT-UMS, AUT-PORT, ALP Provision
Cranes, ALP, Forward Maintenance
Crane, ALM middle Maintenance
Crane, and Dredging 8 miles from
shore for the 1,500 m3 dredge and
Dredging 15 miles from shore for the
2,600 m3 one.
SENER has a highly qualified team for
the development of structural analysis
in vessels and other offshore units
using the finite elements method.
Up-to-date: Marine
BUILD IN STX SOVIKNES
FORAN in the
Ship of the
Year 2010 in
Norway
The FORAN System has been
successfully used for the design of the
Ship of the Year 2010 in Norway. The
subsea service vessel Skandi Aker, built
at STX OSV Søviknes (formerly STX
Norway Offshore AS – Søviknes) for
the Norwegian owner Dofcon Asa, has
unique capabilities that make her a oneoff well intervention vessel. The vessel,
which is the largest mono-hull subsea
well intervention vessel ever built, can
operate as a light drilling unit and can
perform well intervention operations at
water depths up to 3,000m, while others
are limited to 800 m depth.
Skandi Aker was designed for
the intervention in both deep water
and shallow water including subsea
construction, installation and maintenance
work. With large deck space and subsea
cranes with heavy capacity, the vessel has
great sea-keeping performance and high
transit speed. The vessel is equipped with
a Module Handling System and a 400 tons
AHC crane.
STX Europe is the current name of the
company to which STX OSV belongs. The
company signed a contract with SENER
to have the license to use the FORAN
System in January 2000. The sites that
started using FORAN were Langsten,
Soviknes-Brattvaag, Aukra and Tangen
that belonged that time to the Aker Group.
The first ship designed with FORAN
in STX Søviknes was the coast guard
Svalvard. Since 2000, other sites as
Tulcea (Romania) and Promar (Brazil)
joined the Group and signed with SENER
the contract for the use of FORAN. The
contract for the use of FORAN in the sites
in Aker Group that had FORAN licenses
was signed in July 2007.
STX OSV has been using FORAN
in the design of more than sixty vessels
and has increased significantly the
number of licenses in the years 2007
and 2008. The license of FORAN allows
a group of more than a hundred users
to access simultaneously to the ship 3D
model to participate in the design. STX
OSV applies the concept of distribution
of design tasks. This concept leads to
have FORAN users in different distant
locations from where they access to the
database locally or remotely.
Above: detail of the outfitting general
arrangement of the Skandi Aker in FORAN.
Below: section of the vessel in FORAN.
FORAN IN CHILE
ASMAR reactivates the FORAN
licenses deactivated after the
earthquake
The Chilean Shipyard Astilleros y
Maestranzas de la Armada (ASMAR) and
SENER signed last July an agreement
for the reactivation of the licenses of
FORAN that were deactivated after the
earthquake and tsunami of February
2010, with devastating consequences in
the Shipyard in Talcahuano.
The first agreement between SENER
and ASMAR for the use of the shipbuilding
CAD/CAM System FORAN in the Chilean
shipyard was signed in 1996, in Valparaiso.
Since then, the Shipyard has been using
FORAN for the design and production of all
kind of ships, including naval vessels – Offshore Patrol Vessels, General Service Crafts
(LSG), Patrol Boats and Landing Crafts - as
well as Commercial, Oceanographic and
Fishing Vessels.
“FORAN is the CAD/CAM System
used by ASMAR for the development of
the detail engineering projects. The System
guarantees a smooth integration of the
virtual model of the ship in order to optimize
the design” said Roberto Urrutia, Lieutenant
Commander, Chief of the Marine Design
Department in ASMAR Talcahuano, after
the signing of the agreement.
In the image: air view of the ASMAR
Shipyard in Talcahuano.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
27
Up-to-date: Group
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Promoting
biomass
projects
with SENER
technology
Ever since Royal Decree 436 was issued
in 2004, SENER has been developing
highly efficient thermal processes
for generating energy from biomass,
in order to lower costs and achieve
economically viable projects under the
special tariffs for renewable electricity.
Thus, the SENER 3 thermal cycle
was conceived, and, after RD661/07
was issued, the SENER 4 process was
created, which, once hybridized with
natural gas (SENER 4+1), made it
possible to improve energy efficiency by
about 15% while at the same time keeping
corrosion levels low in its steam boilers.
Since then, SENER has been
consolidating a business strategy that
has overcome the barriers encountered
by first initiatives in Spain. Up till now,
biomass facilities in Spain had been
primarily conceived for using residual
biomass from agriculture (hay, orchard
cuttings, vines, etc.), forests (brushwood,
cuttings, forest clearings) and industry
(olive oil waste, sawdust, bark, etc.),
which, for various reasons, have
adversely affected the full disponibility of
the power plant capacity.
28
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
In order to solve this, SENER’s strategy
in this sector has been focused on
applying highly efficient yet minimally
corrosive technology in optimally sized
plants (> 17 MWe), supplied mainly
with cultivated biomass: factors which,
when combined, ensure that the facilities
have high disponibility and will be
economically viable over the long term.
In practice, the goal is to harmonize
SENER’s industrial and technological
experience (particularly in energy cycles)
with knowledge and experience from
other developers versed in the cultivation
and agricultural development of biomass.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Based on these premises, SENER Grupo
de Ingeniería is promoting various
projects, including the Juneda, S.L.
Biomass Power Plant (CBJ), a 17.8 MWe
project using cultivated biomass in
Juneda (Lleida, Spain) which will employ
the SENER 4 + 1 technology and will aim
at achieving an electrical efficiency of
around 35%.
Participating in this project will be
SENER, with a 70% share, and RWE
Innogy Iberia Biomasa, S.L. with a 30%
share, as per an agreement signed by
both companies on June 12 th of this
year. The facility will process roughly
100,000 t/yr of biomass cultivated in the
agricultural areas surrounding Juneda.
The project promotion also counts with
the collaboration of Urgesneda, which
has had considerable success cultivating
experimental crops in the region for
years, and which will be integrated into
CB Juneda as a shareholder. For this
plant, a site has been secured next to the
Juneda electrical substation to which the
facility will be connected.
Next, there is Biodena, a company
developing a facility in Milagro (Navarre,
Spain) where SENER’s high energy
efficient technology will also be employed.
SENER has arrived at an initial
agreement with Abencis, the current
majority shareholder of Biodena, to take
charge of the next steps for developing
the project. Over the last few years
Biodena has been planting experimental
cultivations of biomass in the area where
the facility will be located.
Cultivating and efficiently converting
highly productive short cycle biomass
into energy is a novel business sector,
in which SENER can deploy its capacity
and innovative prowess to bring together
the agricultural and industrial advances
into a differentiate position.
In both images: biomass production in
agricultural areas for the new plants.
HIGH AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTIVITY is an essential
factor in cultivated biomass projects,
where climate, edaphology and
agronomical factors all interplay.
Selection of the varieties, making
use of genetic cloning techniques,
suited to the agricultural region
in which they are grown, achieves
high productive short rotation cycle
plants (generally 1 to 3 years). SENER
and its associates in these projects
already have a team of experienced
agricultural engineers developing
cultivated biomass, assisted by
the team lead by Professor Jesús
González from the Technical
University of Madrid (UPM).
Up-to-date: Group
TORRESOL ENERGY
Official opening of the solar thermal
power plant Gemasolar
On October 4, the solar thermal power
plant Gemasolar dressed up for the official
opening, presided over by His Majesty
the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, and His
Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
The town of Fuentes de Andalucia in
Seville, site of the state-of-the-art plant,
witnessed the ceremony which was
attended also by His Royal Highness Sheikh
Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National
Security Advisor and Deputy Director of
the Executive Committee of Abu Dhabi,
UAE; His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdullah
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of
Foreign Affairs; the Spanish Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Trinidad
Jiménez; and the Spanish Minister of
Industry, Tourism and Trade, Miguel
Sebastián, among other leaders of UAE and
the Spanish Government. Sebastián gave
a speech which was followed by the words
of the Prime Minister of the Autonomous
Region of Andalusia, José Antonio Griñán.
The other speeches were given by the
President of Torresol Energy, Enrique
Sendagorta, the President of SENER,
Jorge Sendagorta and the CEO of Masdar,
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber. All of them
emphasized the great importance of this
project both inside and outside of Spain
thanks to its important technological
innovations.
OPEN HOUSE
In addition to official events of Day 4, on
Wednesday 5 an open day was held and
chaired by Isabel de Haro, Secretary General
of Industrial and Energy Development of
Andalusia, and it was attended by workers
STATE OF THE ART
TECHNOLOGY
Gemasolar is a
revolution in the field
of concentrating solar
power by combining
tower technology and
molten salt storage,
allowing it to reach
temperatures much
higher than those
achieved with parabolic
trough technology, since
no further oil is used and
instead of that it uses
molten salt as a heat
transmitter.
of the plant and residents of the town of
Fuentes de Andalucía.
On this occasion, the master of ceremonies
responsible for directing the act was Ignacio
Grimaldi, Regional Director for Andalusia
of Torresol Energy, which gave the floor to
Enrique Sendagorta first, who welcomed those
present to act to subsequently announce the
speeches of Torresol Energy’s CEO, Álvaro
Lorente, and the Mayor of Fuentes de
Andalucía, Miguel Hernandez. Isabel de Haro
closed the right to speak.
Between the two events, over 800 people
took the opportunity to see firsthand the latest
technology solar thermoelectric plant that has
generated such excitement internationally.
In the image: the main invitees at the
Gemasolar official opening.
These high temperatures
produce a superheated
pressurized steam
for the turbine, which
increases the efficiency
of the plant.
This ability of molten
salt thermal storage
allows the plant to
supply to the grid
based on demand,
regardless of solar
radiation. Gemasolar,
with nominal power
of 19.9 MW, can
supply electricity to a
population of 27,500
households in southern
Spain, clean energy that
prevents the emission
of 30,000 tonnes of CO 2
a year.
Gemasolar’s innovative
technology was
developed by SENER,
which has been
responsible for leading
the EPC contract and
commissioning works
of the plant, providing
all the technology and
carrying out the basic
and detailed engineering
of the project.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
29
Up-to-date: Group
INDUSTRIA DE TURBOPROPULSORES ITP
ITR opens a new plant
specialising in aeronautic tube
manufacture in Mexico
The Governor of Querétaro, José
Calzada, and the CEO of Industria
de Turbo Propulsores, S. A., Ignacio
Mataix, opened a new aeronautic tube
manufacturing plant at Turborreactores,
S.A. de C.V. (ITR).
As of today, ITR, an ITP affiliate based
in the Mexican state of Querétaro, has
a new 2000 sqm building specialising
in the manufacture of the rigid metal
tubes (made of titanium, steel, nickel
alloys and aluminium). These are used
in systems for the hydraulic control, fuel
supply, refrigeration and lubrication of
Airbus A380 and A320 aircraft along
with the Boeing 787 and Bombardier
Challenger 300, among others.
Speaking at the opening, ITP CEO,
Ignacio Mataix said “the objective behind
these new facilities, which are the result
ITP - WHETSTONE
ITP Whetstone
celebrates a 70
year history
The year 1941 was an important
landmark in aviation history. On 15th
May 1941 a Gloster E28/39 took off from
the Royal Air Force base at Cranwell
powered by a revolutionary type of
engine having no propeller.
Instead the aircraft was propelled
by the thrust from a gas turbine engine
designed and manufactured by Sir Frank
30
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
of a 10 million dollar investment, is to
boost the production capacity of the
aerospace tube area. We want to go
Whittle’s company, Power Jets Ltd. Also in
1941 the British Government commenced the
building of a brand new Power Jets factory
at the Leicestershire village of Whetstone,
dedicated to the development and testing
of the gas turbine. Today ITP Engines
UK Ltd is the proud successor to this gas
turbine heritage on the Whetstone site,
and the Power Jets name lives on through
its subsidiary, Power Jets Research &
Development Ltd.
To mark this double 70 anniversary,
on 11th May 2011 ITP Engines UK Ltd
held a Whittle Engine Homecoming
Celebration during which an original
Power Jets W2/500 engine display was
formally unveiled in front of guests
including members of the press and
the BBC, business executives, local
government representatives, aviation
organisations and retired Whetstone
staff including a number of former Power
Jets employees. One of the guests was
Roy Fowkes, who joined Power Jets at
Whetstone in 1943 as an engineering
apprentice, but in later years went on to
become one of Sir Frank’s closest friends
and his UK personal assistant. Before
unveiling the engine, Mr Fowkes gave
an illustrated talk on Sir Frank and the
from 2010 figures of 50,000 units and 6
million dollars in sales to 220,000 tubes
and 35 million in 2015 with a staff of 200
employees”.
The new building will house several
different production processes, such as
welding (orbital, manual and brazing),
chemical treatments, non-destructive testing
(x-ray and penetrant liquids) and others, all
of which are certified by NADCAP.
In the image: team of the ITR’s new plant
in Mexico during the opening day.
important part which Whetstone played
in aviation research and development.
The engine, which is on long term loan
from the London Science Museum, is
particularly important as it is one of only
five W2/500 engines made. Two of the
engines were destroyed during testing
and the remaining engines, of which this
is one, flew in the Gloster E28/39 and
Meteor aeroplanes. It had a maximum
speed of 17,750 rpm and developed a
maximum thrust of 1750 lbf, powering
the little E28/39 jet to around 340 mph
(544 km/hr). The performance of the
W2/500 engine plotted so exactly on the
theoretical design curves that Sir Frank
was driven to the conclusion, perhaps a
little prematurely, that “jet engine design
has become an exact science”.
In presenting Mr Fowkes with a
framed commemorative print of the engine
display, ITP Engines UK Chief Executive
Craig Askew told the audience; “This is
a very proud day for ITP and it is a great
achievement that we have been able to bring
this engine back to it’s rightful home as a
reminder to us all of the strong heritage in
the Whetstone site”.
In the image: the engineer Roy Fowkes
during his speech.
Corporate
INNOVATION AWARD
SENER wins the final prize in the European
Business Awards thanks to Gemasolar
SENER has obtained the final prize in
the Innovation category at the European
Business Awards, thanks to its Gemasolar
project. SENER has been selected upon
other nine companies, all of them finalists to
this prize, in a long selection process started
in May 2011. More than 15,000 European
companies have put themselves forward as
candidates to these awards.
This prize comes after the pre-selection
announcement, in June 2011, of SENER and
its Gemasolar project, along with other 24
Spanish companies, as country representatives
in a first stage. SENER obtained the Ruban
d’Honneur recognition in July 2011. From
the 110 companies which obtained the Ruban
d’Honneur, only one in each category from the
11 existing has got the final prize.
The final awards ceremony took place on
22nd November in Barcelona (Spain). SENER
Vice President, Andrés Sendagorta, picked
up this international award and thanked
the recognition with the following words:
“This award is an example that the change
in the model that we need is possible. It
is, also, an encouragement for SENER, to
improve our society through our contribution
in the technology and industrial field and,
particularly, to achieve a competitive and
efficient solar thermal energy”.
European Business Awards has
distinguished SENER among all the European
companies for the development, from its
first design until its construction, start up,
commissioning and commercial operation, of
the most innovative solar plant in the world, to
date, in commercial operation, Gemasolar.
This plant, promoted by the company
Torresol Energy and located in the village of
Fuentes de Andalucía in Seville, is the first
commercial plant in the world with central
tower receiver technology and a molten salt
heat storage system. This system allows
producing energy throughout 15 hours
without sunlight; in other words, a clean
source such as solar energy can become
manageable, as this plant can deliver power
to the grid according to the demand, even at
night or during cloudy weather.
SENER has been responsible for supplying
all the technology and all the engineering for
Gemasolar, leading the EPC, start up and
commissioning works of the plant. Gemasolar
has leaded the way to a new CSP production
technology that can become the best alternative
possible, because it has the highest potential
in technological development, as well as in
the reduction of generation costs. Therefore,
Gemasolar is considered a technological
milestone, and it will be a model for the success
of future solar plants.
The prestigious European Business Awards
identify some of Europe’s brightest businesses
based on their ability to demonstrate the three
core principles at the heart of the Awards
program: innovation, business excellence and
sustainability. The European Business Awards
objective is to raise the visibility and progress
of companies who excel in delivering innovation
twinned with successful commercial results
whilst acting responsibly and positively affecting
the social environment they operate in.
In the images, above: the Gemasolar plant.
Below: SENER Vice President, Andrés
Sendagorta, picks up the European Business
Award.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
31
Corporate
CONSOLIDATION IN PORTUGAL
SENER acquires 100% of Engivia
SENER has signed an agreement
to purchase 100% of the Portuguese
engineering company, Engivia, in which
it already held a 49% stake. The Spanish
engineering group has thereby exercised
the acquisition option agreed three years
ago and can now consolidate its position
in the Portuguese market, expanding its
civil engineering capacity in Portugal and
its areas of influence.
The agreement was signed in the
SENER offices in Lisbon, by the Country
Manager of SENER Portugal, Aguinaldo
Azevedo, and the Engivia partners, António
Vaz Pato, Paulo Silva and Ricardo Sardinha.
This acquisition has taken place after
four years of close collaboration between
CONSTRUMAT AWARD
Civil Engineering
Award for Levante’s
high speed line
The Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcción
de Catalunya (Institute of Construction
Technology of Catalonia) awarded last
May SENER with Construmat Prize in the
category of Civil Engineering for its project
in the Contreras-Villargordo del Cabriel
(Valencia) stretch of Levante’s high speed
line, section awarded by ADIF to the UTE
SENER-Gestec and Contreras Reservoir
(Azvi SA, Constructora San Jose SA).
These biennial awards recognize
innovation in the areas of construction,
building products and civil engineering
category in which SENER has been
recognized. In this project, SENER has done
the informative study of this stretch and
32
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
the two companies and a long history of
working together on civil engineering
projects in Portugal.
During the signing event, Aguinaldo
Azevedo stated that “the acquisition of
100% of Engivia stock will lead to its
integration with SENER Portugal and
an increase in the portfolio of services
that each company currently offers. This
operation will also consolidate SENER’s
presence in Portugal and increase the
Lisbon office’s potential to expand its
activities abroad, principally in the
Portuguese-speaking African countries”.
António Vaz Pato said that “the
integration of Engivia, an engineering
company with more than 20 years of
the environmental impact study, both the
draft and technical assistance to project
management.
The award recognizes the difficulty
of the work, which involved the design
and construction of major infrastructure
experience, capacity and technical
recognition in Portugal, into the SENER
Group, is an important step towards
the internationalization of its
technical department, as SENER has
great capacity and experience in the
global market”.
SENER has considerable experience
in civil engineering in Portugal, where
it has worked on projects including the
expansion of the Lisbon metro system
and the preliminary studies, basic
design and technical consultancy for
the construction of the Porto metro
system. SENER was also involved in the
draft project for the 87 km long LisbonMontemor section of the Madrid-Lisbon
high speed train line, which included the
11 km bridge over the River Tagus. In
Lisbon itself, SENER also participated
in the construction of a 135 km stretch
of the Transmontana motorway which
was awarded to the Auto Estradas XXI
concessionary (formed by FCC and
Soares da Costa).
Engivia has been involved with more than
550 kilometers of motorways already built
or currently under construction, mainly for
the Brisa and Ascendi concessionaries.
The integration of Engivia into SENER
will allow both companies to strengthen
their presence in Portugal and explore
new business opportunities in Portuguesespeaking markets.
In the image, from left to right: SENER
Country Manager in Portugal, Aguinaldo
Azevedo, Paulo Silva, from Engivia, Débora
Espinosa, from SENER, and António Vaz
Pato and Ricardo Sardinha, both from
Engivia, after signing the agreement.
projects. The object of the award stage,
between the Contreras reservoir and
Villargordo of Cabriel, consists of three
tunnels and three viaducts.
In the image: the Contreras Reservoir section
for which SENER has been awarded.
Corporate
ESA DISTINCTION
CEDE AWARD
NTE-SENER
receives the Group
Achievement Award
Jorge Sendagorta is awarded with the
‘Managing for growth’ prize
The European Space Agency (ESA) has
awarded NTE-SENER with the Group
Achievement Award in recognition of the
work developed in the preparation and
execution of Increment 25 & 26 operations
and its contribution to the achievements of
ESA’s mission objectives in the International
Space Station (ISS). The recognition was
presented by Bernardo Patti, Manager of
ESA’s International Space Station program;
Paolo Nespoli, Flight Engineer; and Roland
Luettgens, ESA’s Mission Director.
NTE-SENER is being recognized for its
contribution to the ISS, the Muscle Atrophy
Research and Exercise System (MARES),
which investigates the effects of muscle
atrophy caused by the absence of gravity.
During the VII Managers Conference held
on October 27-28 in Bilbao, the Spanish
Confederation of Managers and Executives
(CEDE), presented its ‘Managing for Growth’
(‘Dirigir para crecer’) awards to outstanding
managers, among them the President of
SENER, Jorge Sendagorta. The presentation
of these awards took place on the evening
of Thursday, October 27 in the Guggenheim
Museum in Bilbao, in a ceremony sponsored
by the Basque Government and presided over
by its Head, Patxi López.
Along with the President of SENER,
awards were presented to Juan Luis Arregui,
one of the founders of Gamesa and Guascor;
to Constan Dacosta, the former President of
Eroski; to José Luis Larrea, the President of
Ibermática and former Basque Economics
Minister; to wine producer Victoria Cañas;
and to Pedro Luis Uriarte, the former CEO of
BBVA and former Economics Minister.
Besides receiving this distinction, Jorge
Sendagorta was also active in the conference,
taking part in the ‘Energy, Engine of
Sustainable Progress’ conference on the same
afternoon, Thursday October 27.
The CEDE conference structured its
entire program around the theme ‘Managing
for Growth,’ which refers to the necessity for
changing the Spanish economic system in the
framework of the global financial crisis, in
search of the engine of growth in innovation
and design. Given this theme, CEDE wanted
to highlight companies that are leading the
way in innovative sectors such as the new
sustainable energy sector, where SENER has
excelled in recent years.
SENER is the world leader in the
thermosolar power sector, as much for its
high-tech development as for the number of
projects in its pipeline, which exceeds 20 plants
in Spain, in the US, and in India. Seven of these
are already in commercial operation, among
them the first plant to apply a thermal storage
system in a central tower configuration with
an array of heliostats, Gemasolar. SENER is
also a shareholder in this innovative project is
through Torresol Energy.
This distinction recognizes once again
this company’s continual investment in
development and innovation. SENER was
founded in 1956, and since its beginning the
company has made innovation a fundamental
pillar of its business model. Today,
SENER is a benchmark company in all its
business areasIts outstanding participation
in all these business sectors further
distinguishes SENER as the leading Spanish
multidisciplinary engineering company. Thus,
the company contributes innovative solutions
and allocates an investment of around 10% of
its working hours to R&D.
In the image: Jorge Sendagorta with
the ‘Managing for growth’ award, along with
CEDE Vice President, Ramón Adell (on the left
of the image) and CEDE’s General Secretary,
Manuel Gago (on the right of the image).
COLLABORATION IN MEXICO
SENER and the
Mexican Petroleum
Institute Sign
a collaboration
agreement
Project Engineering Management at IMP
(Mexican Petroleum Institute) has created
a registry of engineering companies. This
registry includes those companies capable of
boosting Mexico’s capacity in this sector and
of supporting, with that, the development of
projects focused on hydrocarbon production,
petroleum refining, and the production
of basic and secondary petrochemicals,
providing value through the application of
high-impact solutions.
In this framework, SENER Mexico
and IMP signed a three-year collaboration
agreement in May 2011 to establish the
elements that allow them to consolidate their
efforts to achieve common objectives.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
33
Corporate
SENER INTERNAL AWARDS
SENER Innovation
and Safety on
Construction Sites
Awards
SENER has celebrated, once again, its
internal awards for Innovation and for
Safety on Construction Sites, during the
festivities of Nuestra Señora del Carmen
(Our Lady of Carmel), on July, in the
offices of SENER Bilbao.
The Innovation Awards recognize
products or processes whose characteristics
or applications substantially improve
or differentiate existing ones from a
technological standpoint. In 2011 the award
was given for the project ‘Molten salt
receiver for central tower solar plants’.
When SENER decided to study the
viability and profitability of central
tower solar plants, there was a key
element in the plants: the receiver,
which could not be supplied externally,
so the decision was made to develop
the technology internally. Thus, a
development project was executed in
2005, which culminated in launching
Gemasolar, the first commercial solar
plant in the world with central receiver
and molten salt technology. Thanks to
these achievements SENER now has
the technology necessary for producing
central tower solar plants that are
technically guaranteed and whose costs
are quantifiable.
The winning team was made up
of Jesús María Lata, Pedro Bayón,
Julio Blanco, Jonathan Olano, Aitor
Uribeetxebarria and Hugo Fernández,
MEETINGS OF MACHINING
Santiago Hernandez Ariño is
appointed Honorary Member
The Deputy Director of the Aerospace Business Unit of SENER, Santiago Hernández Ariño, was named Honorary
Member of the Machining Meetings held last September 28.
Meetings of Machining, that met in this date its ninth edition,
took place at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, under the Industrial
34
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
all of them from the Structures and
Mechanisms Section of the SENER
Bilbao Division.
Besides, the Safety on Construction Sites
Awards recognized the work of Rafael
Picó, from the SENER Purchasing and
Construction Management.
Rafael Picó received the award for
making the thermal solar plant Extresol 2
a project with one of the lowest Severity
Indexes (0.095), taking into account
that the plant operated for more than
1,200,000 hours during the last two years.
The Safety on Construction Sites
Awards recognize employees who
significantly contribute to decreasing the
number of accidents in projects where
SENER is in charge of safety.
It is SENER’s goal to achieve
‘zero accidents’ by continuously and
progressively improving occupational
risk prevention (PRL) in its projects.
In the image, above: the winning team of
the Innovation Awards. In the image below:
SENER’s President Jorge Sendagorta
hands the Safety on Construction Site
Award to Rafael Picó.
and Technological Summit, where SENER had a stand. These
seminars are held periodically in different Spanish cities and
their goal is to bring together institutions and complementary
driving forces and put them in contact with small and medium
machining companies. The principles of these meetings are based
on innovation, cooperation, and the opportunity to make new
professional contacts which allow SMEs to access new markets.
Santiago Hernandez Ariño’s appointment comes in recognition to
his contribution to the machining industry, as well as his long career in
the engineering world.
Santiago Hernandez is
a member of various
professional associations
related to the aerospace
and navigation world and
has received several awards
of professional recognition
throughout his career.
In the image above: the
Machining Meetings at the
Industrial and Technological
Summit. Left: Santiago
Hernandez Ariño.
Corporate
SENER ETSEIAT AWARD
Collaboration Agreement with
the School of Industrial
and Aeronautical Engineering
of Terrassa
SENER has once again signed an agreement with the School of
Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering of Terrassa (ETSEIAT)
for the 2011-2012 academic year to sponsor and participate in two
APPOINTMENTS
Miguel Ángel
Fernández, the
Head of the Civil
Engineering Section
of SENER Seville,
is also assuming
leadership
functions for the
Civil Engineering
Section of the
Industrial and
Marine Division,
combining both
titles. Álvaro
Relaño, former
Head of this
section, will focus
on promoting
and directing
international
railway and
highway projects,
in keeping with the
objectives of the
Civil Engineering
and Architecture
Business Unit as
set out in the 20112013 Strategic Plan.
Víctor Lupiáñez,
an engineer in the
Civil Engineering
Section at SENER
Seville with
wide experience
in equipment
management as
well as project
drafting and site
of Head of the
Communications,
Software, and
Electronics
Section of SENER’s
Aerospace
Division in Madrid,
awards. These awards seek to promote academic excellence and
are granted each year for the best Projects work in Industrial
Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering.
This was the third year of these awards, and the ceremony
took place at ETSEIAT on July 11. Participating in the
ceremony were Xavier Pascual and Sonia Fraile, Heads
of Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering Sections,
respectively. Andres Andreatta and Jose Antonio Castro,
members of SENER’s Innovation Commission in Barcelona,
also participated.
This year’s winning project in Industrial Engineering went to
‘AUTOBELT – Design for an Automatic Belt for Bus Drivers’.
The winner in Aeronautical Engineering was ‘BWB-600
NIMBUS Analysis and Structural Design of a Blended Wing
Body Commercial Aircraft for more than 500 passengers’.
With 98 students vying for the awards, the number of
participants this year exceeded those in previous years. The
SENER awards, a result of collaboration between SENER and
UPC (Polytechnic University of Catalonia) are in keeping with the
activities of SENER Barcelona’s Innovation Commission.
In the image: Sonia Fraile, Head of the Electrical Engineering
Section, Xavier Pascual, Head of the Civil Engineering Section,
and José Antonio Castro and Andrés Andreatta, members of
SENER’s Innovation Commission, deliver the best Projects work
in Aeronautical Engineering.
coordinate his work
and responsibilities
with the Financial
Management of
SENER Ingeniería
y Sistemas and
will be under
the SENER
Argentina’s General
Management.
Alicia Ritacco is
the new Personnel
Manager for
SENER Argentina,
management, is
replacing Miguel
Ángel Fernández as
the Head of the Civil
Engineering Section
of SENER Seville.
replacing Juan
Seijas, who will
focus on space
systems project
management and
will report directly
to the Director of
that division.
Alejandro Lamberti
has recently joined
SENER as Financial
Manager of
SENER Argentina.
Alejandro will
Daniel Cocho,
so far Project
Manager within
the Aerospace
Division, assumes
the position
replacing Luis
de las Morenas,
who is leaving
Personnel
Management to
collaborate as
a consultant for
SENER General
Management
in Personnel,
Engineering, and
Construction.
The Power and
Process Strategic
Business Unit,
directed by
Francisco Jiménez,
until recently
has had just one
department,
although it
developed its
activity in four
different fields,
with one person
responsible for
each field. In view
of the growth in
all of these fields,
several months
ago a decision was
made to confer
department status
on each field,
with the people
who until now
were responsible
for each field of
activity becoming
directors of
the four new
departments. Thus,
Jesús Cadenas
is now Director
of the Process
Department,
Miguel Domingo
is Director of
the Solar Energy
Department, and
Luis Gabellieri
becomes the
Director of the Gas
and Thermal Power
Department,
while Borja Zárraga
is now Director
of the Energy
and Environment
Department.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
35
Technology
STUDY FOR THE FIRST METRO LINE
The Bogota Metro
Bogota is Colombia’s largest city with a population of around 7 million
inhabitants. An increased number of private vehicles, conventional
mass transit and the Transmilenio rapid transit bus system
have overloaded its road system to the bursting point. Therefore,
the city’s Transit Department has launched the SITP, or Integrated
Public Transport System for the city of Bogota, which
amongst its improvements will include the city’s first metro line.
n 2008, the consortium made up of SENER,
Transporte Metropolitano de Barcelona
(TMB), Advanced Logistic Group, Incoplan,
Santander Investment Colombia, and Garrigues
Abogados was awarded the contract for the ‘Conceptual
design of the metropolitan mass transit network and
operational design and legal and financial framework
for the first metro line as part of the Integrated Public
Transport System (SITP) for the city of Bogota’. The
consultancy group, led by SENER, was awarded the
contract due to the companies’ extensive experience
with similar projects.
The work has been divided into several phases
encompassing economic, urban and transportation
analyses of Bogota, transportation modeling for various
scenarios in the city up to the year 2038, and regulatory
and financial analyses. At present, more than a year
after having completed the project, the study by the
consultancy group, lead by SENER, has been endorsed
by the World Bank, the City Council and most recently,
in September of 2011, by the Presidency of Colombia
after verifications conducted by the British consultant
Steer Davis and Gleave.
In a letter sent by the World Bank, the institution
affirmed that “The project is sturdy and solid, creating
an outline for a metro system, and based on that
I
36
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
establishing which line should be built first.... The model
of transit demand built and used for the study for the
metro is appropriate for the objectives hoped to be
achieved.... The model that has been developed is of
high quality.... The decision for the route of the first line
- the letter concludes - adheres to urban, environmental
and social criteria.”
The study has been made with high levels of
participation by local government entities (Mobility,
Urban Planning, Urban Development, Finance,
Environment, etc.), Design Review Group, National
Government, World Bank and BID (Inter-American
Development Bank).
A group with proven experience
The Bogota Federal District Transit Department
entrusted this project to the Consultancy Group
which was selected from among over 50 entrants in
an international bidding process backed by
the World Bank.
The Consultancy Group consists of six firms with
renowned prestige in their respective fields: SENER,
as the leader of the group, has extensive experience
in urban transport that has translated into projects
totaling over 1000 km of metro, light rail and streetcar
lines throughout the world, from viability studies to
Technology
In the image: layout
of the first metro
line in Bogota. This
is the Consultancy
Group selected
solution, also
approved by the
World Bank and
made possible
by the CONPES
agreement of July
19, 2010, which
guarantees the
federal and local
funds necessary
for construction.
Approval was also
received from the
Bogota City Council
and the National
Government of
Colombia.
In the previous page:
graphic showing
several analysis of
the study.
comprehensive supervision of projects in all of their
phases; Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona
(TMB) brings its experience of having operated the
Barcelona Metro since 1957, and in various other
cities around the world where it has worked as a
consultant; Advanced Logistics Group (ALG), a
Spanish consultancy group with proven international
experience in mass transit planning; Incoplan, a
Colombian engineering company with wide experience
in transportation projects; Santander Investment,
which specializes in financing studies for creditworthy
infrastructures and which belongs to one of the world’s
largest banks, and Garrigues, continental Europe’s
largest law firm, which has successfully participated in
countless similar projects currently in operation.
Development phases of the study
In December 2008 the project was launched. To date,
the project has consisted of four phases, which were
executed between December 2008 and December 2010.
During the first phase, ‘Baseline Diagnosis and
Definition of Scenarios’, a thorough survey was
conducted of the terrain in order to define the city’s
current and future mobility needs. Models of the
city’s transportation system was developed for the
base year (2008), short term (at the metro’s launch)
medium term (2028) and long term (2038) scenarios:
all with the goal of incorporating the metro network
into the Integrated Public Transport System and
in order to meet trip demands while improving the
city’s productivity and quality of life. These scenarios
likewise analyzed how the system would interact with
the rest of the region. This analysis was produced
based on the model established in the POT and the
Mobility Master Plan.
In phase 2, ‘Evaluation of Alternatives and
Implementation Priorities,’ the metro network was
outlined, identifying which line would be first in the
Integrated Public Transport System (SITP). A mass
transit system was selected that would best meet
Bogota’s unique transportation requirements, looking
as far forward as the year 2038. This phase also
involved selecting which line in the network would be
the first to be built.
Selecting the network and choosing the first
line together make up one of the most important
aspects of the project. At this point in the study, a
multi-criteria evaluation was applied, evaluating the
project’s civil engineering, technical, environmental,
socio-economic and financial aspects. Other facets
such as supply and demand were also taken into
account in the selection and prioritization process.
Lastly, the line selected in this phase will run from
Tintal (Portal de las Américas) to Calle 127: a total of
29,054 km of tracks with 28 stations.
The goal of phase 3, ‘Operational Design
for the First Line’ is to develop an operational
design for the first line selected in Phase 2, and
to set its infrastructure design parameters: from
the technological requirements to how to adjust
SITP’s fare structure once the first metro line has
been integrated into the system.
After this study was completed, and as a result
of the analysis conducted jointly with the National
Planning Department, the National University
and University of the Andes, in Phase 4,
‘Adjustments to the Operational Design and Legal
and Financial Frameworks’ it was decided that it
would be best to consider extending the line up
to Calle 170 and to establish a first phase for the
segment between San Victorino station and
Calle 170. An exhaustive financial analysis was also
conducted for the first metro line.
These documents pathed the way for the
CONPES agreement signed on July 19, 2010, in
which the Colombian Government approved
the annual resources necessary for constructing the
first line of the metro.
A metro for a more inhabitable
environment
Bogota’s first metro line will help enrich the city’s
public transportation, with 21st Century technology that
minimizes the impacts that traffic inevitably causes in
urban environments, and will use energy that is mostly
renewable, connecting neighborhoods with diverse
social strata and smoothly integrating with other means
of public mass transit. This will all lead to the new
service creating a positive impact on the urban planning
of the greater Bogota area, substantially improving its
inhabitants’ quality of life.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
37
In Brief
SolarPACES 2011
Concentrated Solar Power show
38
SolarPACES 2011, the
show for concentrated
solar power, counted
this year with the
presence of SENER and
Torresol Energy, that
participated with a stand and
several papers from 20
Codespa
Foundation
exhibits in
SENER
Formula
Student
university
competition
On November, between 15th and
25th SENER facilities in Madrid
have received the photo
exhibition ‘La mujer como
motor de desarrollo en América
Latina’ (Women as an engine for
development in Latin America)’.
This show aims to give visibility
to women’s figure in Latin
America. It includes three
distinct themes: ‘Women
and Development ‘,’ Women and
the Family ‘and’ Women
and Work‘, a collection of 25
snapshots.
This travelling exhibition
is an initiative from
Codespa Foundation, with
which SENER collaborates
for years.
Formula Student Spain 2011
was held from September
29th to October 2nd in
Montmeló (Catalonia). This
year, the team sponsored by
SENER has achieved its best
classification in the Formula
Student competition since
their beginning in this race, five
years ago: Formula Student
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
Gemasolar
stirs up
interest in the
global press
Since Gemasolar began
commercial operation as
the first commercial power
plant in the world to apply
molten salt storage system
to a central tower and
heliostat field configuration,
numerous media have
visited its installations.
Spanish public television
TVE, the British channel
BBC, Japanese television
NTV, the Brazilian TV
Record, the Arab channel
to 23 September.
Granada was the city chosen
to host this conference, one
of the most important ones
from the professional sector
of the CSP. The theme of this
year was ‘Concentrated
Solar Power and Chemical
Energy Systems’.
During the meeting, the
stand received many visitors,
including the Minister of
Innovation and Science of
Spain, Cristina Garmendia,
as shows the image.
In this year’s conference,
SENER gave technical
lectures about CSP
technology and presented
technical papers about the
SENERtrough-1 collector;
the commissioning and
operation of commercial
surrounding heliostat fields,
or the technical experience
in the innovative Gemasolar
plant, with central tower
receiver and storage system
technology.
For its part, Torresol Energy
presented technical papers
that offered the attendees an
insight into the challenges
in operating Gemasolar, and
also about operating its other
two plants, Valle 1 and Valle
2, with parabolic through
technology.
Included in the SolarPACES
program, at the request of
the organization, Torresol
Energy offered a guided
visit to the Gemasolar plant,
that generated great interest,
considering the number
of applications received
Bizkaia team has come in a well
deserved fourth place.
Formula Student is the
only annual competition for
single-seat cars designed by
engineering students from all
around the world. Organized
by the International Society of
Automotive Engineers (STA), the
race brings together engineering
schools from around the
world to compete in designing,
developing, constructing, and
driving single-seat racing cars.
SENER is the sponsor of the
single-seater developed and
raced by the Bilbao School of
Engineers, the Formula Student
Bizkaia Team. This team has
been improving results year after
year until achieving the fourth
place in this tough race.
Al Jazeera, the American
channel CNN, French
television France 2, and
the United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi Television have
all come to Gemasolar and
later broadcast reports, and,
last but not least, regional
Andalusian television
Canal Sur has broadcasted
reports about the power
plant in various programs.
Economics media such as
Bloomberg and Forbes,
general information
newspapers such as the
French Le Figaro and Le
Monde or the Japanese
Akahata, have also
visited the plant and have
published articles about it,
as have other media from
around the world.
The expectations generated
by Gemasolar in the
international press are owed
to what it is today, the most
innovative solar thermal
power plant in the world,
and that its technology
can lead the future of
concentrated solar power.
In Brief
International Conference in
Computer Applications
on Shipbuilding ICCAS
From 20th to 22nd of September,
the 15th edition of the
International Conference
in Computer Applications
on Shipbuilding (ICCAS),
which takes place every two
years and in which SENER
participated actively, took
place. Trieste (Italy) was the
venue for this year’s congress
organized by the Royal
Institution of Naval Architects,
UK (RINA) and very well
received internationally.
SENER presented four papers
during the various sessions of
the congress: “Advanced CAD
- PLM Integration in a Naval
Shipbuilding Environment’, ‘The
electrical design in a highly
demanding environment’,
presented in collaboration with
Navantia; ‘Efficient design of
outfitting & machinery spaces’,
and ‘Integrated Development
Environment in Shipbuilding
Computer Systems.’
SENER, that has been one of
the main sponsors of ICCAS,
was pleased by the high level of
presented papers and hopes to
participate in the next edition
to be held in 2013 in South
Korea, where the company
counts on a new office.
International
Paris Air Show
a delegation of the Spanish
Ministry of Industry, Tourism
and Trade. The Minister Miguel
Sebastián was attended by
SENER’s Vice President, as
shows the image.
At this exhibition, which this
year hosted a record number of
participants, SENER presented
projects like turn-key
production systems for wing
stringer production and HTP
assembly for the A350XWB,
the future air defense system
for the Army and Air Force,
entitled Sagitario, the Gaia
satellite systems or the
recently reached agreement
to be prime contractor for the
Proba 3 mission.
Once again, SENER attended
the international exhibition
Paris Air Show, the main
aerospace show in Europe,
which this year celebrated its
49th edition in the village of Le
Bourget.
During the week of June 20 to
26, the engineering company
presented in the Spanish
pavilion its capabilities, not
only in the Aeronautical
area, but also in areas like
Defense and Space. Several
institutional delegations visited
SENER’s booth, among them
The Minister of Energy of Chile
visits Gemasolar
The innovative solar thermal
plant Gemasolar received last
October 16 the visit of the Chilean
Minister of Energy, Rodrigo
Alvarez, who was accompanied
by a delegation from the
Embassy of Chile in Spain and
the institution InvestChileCORFO.
This visit was part of a trip around
Spain to get better acquainted
with the commissioning of
renewable energy projects in the
country, a sector in which Spain
is a world leader. During the visit,
the General Manager of Torresol
Energy, Álvaro Lorente, and
SENER’s Solar Area Director,
Miguel Domingo, offered them
a technical presentation of the
plant and its technology and
accompanied them through
their facilities.
Gemasolar has received
numerous visits over the past
months and has generated great
interest worldwide.
Aerospace show
in ESMATS
‘Beyond a face’
exhibition
SENER wanted to join the
initiative from Down
Syndrome Foundation of
Madrid organised to show
a series of photographs of
people affected with mental
and physical disabilities
in Madrid’s Plaza de la
Independencia.
The aim of the exhibition was
to bring this disease to the
population for standardization
and awareness through 150
snapshots.
These images were exhibited
during the month of June, both
in Plaza de la Independencia
and also in the suburban rail
station of Sol (Madrid).
Last September, the
European Symposium
on Space Mechanisms
and Tribology Systems
(ESMATS) held its 14th edition
in the city of Constance, in
Germany, and it had the
active presence of SENER.
The company presented
in this biannual meeting
several projects. Moreover,
the show featured the active
participation of several
people from SENER, like
the Head of the Structures
and Mechanisms Section,
Fernando Artigas,who
was part of the Organizing
Committee, or the
Project Manager Carlos
Compostizo, who held the
presidency of a conference
dedicated to mechanisms.
Professionals from SENER
presented several articles
of the company projects in
areas such as robotics or
space, speaking about the
participation of SENER in
Gaia or Sentinel 2.
SENER noticias 42/AUTUMN 2011
39
“I see ships as smart as dolphins”
When it comes to the sea, the way to see the future can be
developing the engineering and designing ships "a la carte"
through the eyes of its most intelligent inhabitants. In the
for more than 50 years, with our own software FORAN, the
not-too-distant future SENER will create ships as smart as
world leader in CAD/CAM ship design and shipbuilding
dolphins, perfectly able to adapt to their environment. We
applications. Here is a clear evidence of the ability to adapt,
are confident on our vision, since at SENER we have been
applied to marine engineering.
Marine
The way to see the future
Aerospace
ABU DHABI • ALGIERS • BARCELONA • BILBAO • BUENOS AIRES • LISBON • MADRID • MEXICO CITY • OKAYAMA • SAN FRANCISCO • SEVILLE • VALENCIA • WARSAW