Spain

One of the biggest Spanish collector manufacturers, Termicol, can still celebrate its 10^th anniversary this year. The company has managed to counter the decline in the Spanish market by expanding its business abroad. Today, the export of collectors generates 20 % of the company´s turnover. With its own brand, Termicol claims a market share of around 10 % in its home country.
Photo: Termicol

After running for 28 months, the IEE So-Pro project to develop and promote solar process heat ended in September 2011. Project Leader Christiane Egger was able to present a successful programme at the Estec 2011 in Marseilles: More than 90 energy screenings in various industrial companies, about 160 persons trained, 990 participants of round-table events and conferences, 21 publications in 5 languages, 7 pilot projects in operation and about 10 in the pipeline. For the complete interview with Christiane Egger, click here.

This week, the Swiss Bank Sarasin published the 12^th edition of their solar industry report, covering all three solar technologies: solar heating and cooling (ST), photovoltaics (PV), and concentrating solar power (CSP). The chapter on solar thermal identifies great differences in the market development of national markets and regions. While the Chinese market continues to shine, many European countries are suffering from decreasing or stagnating markets. Nevertheless, Sarasin predicts a great future, with a global average growth of 12% per year until 2020.

The 15^th edition of the trade show will be held between 23 and 25 May in Feria de Madrid and will, once again, be one of the main meeting and business points with regard to renewable energy and energy efficiency in Spain. The different and numerous technical workshops, organized by the industry’s main organizations and companies, will offer a very broad vision of the current situation of the different fields making up the renewable energies and energy efficiency sector.

Climatizacion 2013, the International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Ventilation and Refrigeration Exhibition, which is due to take place at Feria De Madrid between 26 February and 1 March 2013, will present the most recent designs and technology employed in the Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration industry. Organised by IFEMA, Climatization has established itself as one of the leading events for the industry on the Iberian Peninsula. At its last edition, the exhibition brought together 1,172 companies and welcomed some 47,997 professionals.

The Trainenergy project ran from September 2009 to September 2011, with the objective to produce a training programme about the EU Energy Performance of Building and the Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directives for tradesmen in the construction industry. The project was run in Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Denmark. This module presents the best renewable sources that offer heating at virtually zero carbon emissions, solar water heating being the first technology to be assessed.

The study published by the Spanish Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) presents an in-depth analysis of the solar thermal energy potential for domestic hot water and swimming pool water heating, as well as the benefits of the solar photovoltaic energy feeding into the grid. A key reference for the study has been the text of the Spanish Technical Building Code (CTE) in force.

Becoming a publicly traded company by September: the first step of Sunex' strategy to enter new markets and invest in a factory outside the country. The solar collector manufacturer will be listed on New Connect, the Warsaw stock market for small enterprises. In August, Sunex already sold 0.76 % of its stocks to investors through private offers, gaining about PLN 0.55 million (EUR 0.13 million). “We have decided to enter New Connect to let the market give us a valuation of our company before we get listed on the main trading floor of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE),” the company’s President, Romuald Kalyciok (see photo), explains. Further share sales are planned for 2012.
Photo: Puls Biznesu

This second edition of the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) study presents the latest political, technological, financial and economic information on renewable energy technologies in the fields of heating and cooling, electricity and biofuels in order to reach the binding 2020 target of at least 20 % renewable energy from final energy consumption.

Munich's Intersolar in June was the first-ever German event at which Finnish company T-Drill O presented its machinery. With a focus on pipe processing for solar thermal absorbers, the company offers T-Drill machines, as well as pipe cutting, pipe end closing and end forming machines. The photo shows Timo Lehtonen, Sales Director at T-Drill, presenting the main component of a T-Drill machine: the tool that can drill and collar during a single production step.
Photo: Bärbel Epp