Abengoa Solar, which will operate both CSP facilities, will retain control of the project with a 70% stake while ITOCHU will take a 30% stake.

The two 50 MW CSP plants represent a total investment of more than €500 million, of which a total of around €340m has been raised through a project finance loan.

The two parabolic trough CSP plants, which are already under construction by the Abengoa companies Abener and Teyma, are expected to start their commercial operation in 2012 and will sell power to the grid based on the Spanish feed-in tariff system.

Santiago Seage, Abengoa Solar’s CEO, says: “This partnership with a leading Japanese trading firm and the participation of international banks confirms the growth potential of CSP fuelled by the international investment community. For Abengoa Solar, it constitutes another step forward in the execution of our pipeline of projects that have secured their registration in the feed-in-tariff pre-assignment registry set up last year in Spain”.