Corporate News: Solar Millennium is further expanding its cooperation with power utility; joint development of two further power plant projects in Spain

Solar Millennium is continuing to strengthen its market position in Spain
Entry of NEO Energía in the project companies Ibersol and Murciasol-1

Solar Millennium AG, based in Erlangen, Germany, is further expanding its partnership with the Spanish company, NEO Energía, based in Oviedo, Spain, a subsidiary for renewable energies of the Portuguese EDP Group (Energias de Portugal S.A.). In addition to the on-going power plant project Andasol 3 in Andalusia in southern Spain, this cooperation is now extended to two projects in the neighboring regions of Extremadura and Murcia. According to the transfer concluded on November 21, 2006, Solar Millennium AG now holds 50 percent of the shares in the corresponding project companies Ibersol and Murciasol-1. Each of these project companies is responsible for furthering project development and implementation of one 50-MW solar power plant using parabolic trough technology.

Details regarding this information
"With the participation of NEO Energía in both of these projects we are consequently pursuing our strategy of jointly implementing solar-thermal large-scale power plants together with strong regional partners. This will greatly enhance our market position on the Iberian Peninsula", says Christian Beltle, Chairman of the Board of Solar Millennium AG.

The EDP Group is already actively involved in the power plant project Andasol 3 in Andalusia in southern Spain, the third power plant that Solar Millennium AG is developing in Andalusia. At the present time, the tenders to bid are being drawn up for the turn-key contract and the project financing for this power plant. The parabolic trough power plant Andasol 1, the very first parabolic trough power plant in Europe is being implemented by Solar Millennium AG in joint cooperation with the Spanish ACS/Cobra Group and is presently under construction. Construction of the solar power plant Andasol 2 will commence as soon as the negotiations on financing are completed which are presently in the final stages. Each power plant will be capable of supplying environmentally-friendly solar electricity to 200,000 people.

Solar Millennium AG
Solar Millennium AG is an innovative project development and technology company in the renewable energy sector which is active around the world. Together with subsidiaries and partners, Solar Millennium plans and constructs solar-thermal power plants, and has specialized in two technologies in this field. Firstly, they are a technology provider for parabolic trough power plants, a proven and reliable technology in which Solar Millennium is regarded a world leader. Further, the company develops solar chimney power plants with the objective to make this technology marketable. The main focus of current projects is Spain, the USA, China and the states of Northafrica.

The EDP Group
The EDP group (Energias de Portugal), based in Lisbon, Portugal, is one of the largest European energy providers. This listed company is also the majority shareholder in the Spanish power utility Hidrocantábrico and has shares in the electricity sector in Brazil. In recent years, the EDP Group has invested extensively in renewable energies. As of June 2006, the EDP Group has a total installed capacity of 1,265 MW of renewables on the Iberian Peninsula, that is to be expanded to 3,000 MW by the end of 2008.

The technology
Solar-thermal power plants generate electricity using the heat caught from solar radiation. In a parabolic trough power plant, trough-shaped mirrors focus the incident solar radiation onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. A heat transfer medium in the pipe is heated, and this generates steam in the power block section using heat exchangers. The steam is then used to operate a turbine which generates electricity in the same way as in conventional power plants. Integration of a thermal storage system means the availability of the electricity can be planned. Therefore, the solar power plants can also generate electricity after sunset.