The history of Abengoa, a pioneering company in Sustainability in Spain, is very closely linked to the innovation and technological development of its different business units.
After the foundational stage (1941-1950), came consolidation and expansion, both national (1951-1960) and international, which was completed in 1990. During the 80s, the company experienced constant growth by adapting to the new challenges of the end of the millennium; water, energy and wastes – which led to the creation of new specialized business units.
Thanks to its excellent vision of the future, Abengoa has been able to mold all these challenges into a project aimed at reorganizing its lines of business and upgrading its structure by adopting a more flexible strategy capable of adapting to the global evolution of the new markets. The existing company organization structure is established within this framework and consists of the following business units: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies, and Industrial Engineering and Construction.
These companies (business units) base their development on innovation, as a norm, and respect for the environment. Abengoa develops and manages new forms of energy production, infrastructures and environmental services, and innovates in the information technology sector. The evolution from the conventional product line to the range of differentiated activities, with greater dedication to research and technology development, marked the extraordinary progress of the Company in this ultimate stage.
Abengoa’s actual leading position worldwide in solar energy production is fruit of the work and effort of those who have contributed to its growth and consolidation from the moment it commenced activities in this field in 1984 by participating in the construction of the Solar Platform in Almeria. The first works, in the 80s, in the field of solar technology, were carried out by the workshop division of what is today Inabensa. They were the seed that led, in the 90s, to the creation of a department dedicated to participating in R&D projects.
In 1993, Abengoa executed the turnkey contract for the 1 MW Toledo PV photovoltaic plant owned by Union Fenosa, Endesa and RWE, and subsidized by the European Union.
In the field of tower technology, several R&D projects were executed in 1994 and aimed at development of different types of receivers. These projects were partially financed under the European Union’s Framework Programs (IV, V, and VI). From 1995 to 2000, parabolic trough technology projects were executed (EU Framework Programs IV and V).
Following a fruitful commencement dedicated mainly to R&D, which was the basis for the development of a mature and economically feasible technology, Abengoa Solar positioned itself as a pioneer in the construction of solar thermal photovoltaic plants for commercial operation and in customized projects.
In 2007, the first commercial tower technology plant – the 11 MW PS10 plant, and the world’s largest low concentration photovoltaic plant – the 1.2 MW Sevilla PV plant, were inaugurated. These two plants are part of the Solucar Platform that, by 2013, will generate 300 MW to power 153,000 homes while avoiding the annual emission of 185,000 tons of CO2. Abengoa Solar continues to conduct its own R&D projects in pursuit of new in-house technologies aimed at enabling cost reduction and enhancement of efficiencies.
The biofuels industry was created to provide a renewable alternative for the transportation sector. Towards the end of the 90s, the two largest capacity plants in Europe were constructed utilizing a large portion of in-house R&D. In 2002, important grants were received from the government of the United States and the EU. These coincided with the first sales of ethanol from Spain to other EU member states.
A $76 million grant was awarded in 2007 by the US DOE for construction of the first commercial lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol production plant.
Today, Abengoa Bioenergy is the leader in new ethanol technologies, is upgrading existing conversion technology and is executing a final use demonstration program for ethanol. It is an innovating agent that is developing second generation technologies.
Abengoa’s dedication to environmental activities dates back to the hydraulic activity it began to develop from the very outset in 1941. In the 80s, Abengoa consolidated its presence in the urban and industrial waste management market as a consequence of society’s greater environmental awareness and in response to its efforts in R&D&I, and its commitment to the environment and sustainability.
Befesa, the parent company of the Environmental Services Business Unit, has focused its R&D&I activity on aluminum waste recycling, salt slag recycling, zinc waste recycling, industrial waste management, and industrial cleaning and environmental engineering (engineering and construction for water treatment and waste management) services. This has enabled it to now hold a leading position internationally in the creation of infrastructures of an environmental nature.
In Befesa, investment in R&D&I has always been taken to mean the constant effort required to assure the technological competitiveness necessary to allow Befesa to consolidate its position as leader in Spain in its sector, and as a reference company at international level. This is clearly demonstrated by the roll out of its R&D&I Center in Seville, on which construction commenced in 2008, and for which with start-up is scheduled for the first half of 2009.
The decade of the 90s marked the commencement of the company’s internationalization process with operations in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and China. It was at this time that the market witnessed the massive deployment of the Internet, mobile telephony, and fiber optic networks. Within this framework, Telvent was witness to all these events directly related with its industrial process control systems activity.
The Telvent Product Centers provided infrastructure technologies that are the basis for the different solutions. These technologies, occasionally commercialized separately, were utilized by the Competence Centers to develop system architectures and advanced high value-add applications, developed specifically for each sector. Together with our experience in business processes, Telvent’s services, products and solutions provide our customers with real-time business decision taking capacities.
Today, the work of more than 350 people in Telvent focuses on Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) in nine Product and Competence Centers around the world.
Hynergreen Technologies, S.A. is the Abengoa Company dedicated to R&D aimed at clean production of hydrogen utilizing renewable energy sources and utilization of this same gas in fuel cells for efficient production of electricity and heat. Established in 2003, the company employs the Abengoa personnel that, up until then, had worked at these activities in other companies; since that year, it has invested more than €5 million in research and development, has collaborated with public and private R&D bodies at home and abroad, and has undertaken different projects for key sectors of the industry.
Its personnel participate regularly at the sector’s most important congresses and have published articles of reference in numerous magazines and specialized publications, and are the inventors of key patents for the clean production of hydrogen utilizing different technologies.
The company has two work centers including a Laboratory equipped for working with hydrogen storage systems, fuel cells of different nature and output, power control and conditioning systems, etc.
Today, Abengoa is a technology R&D company that applies innovative solutions for sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors, while providing long-term value for its shareholders via management characterized by the fostering of entrepreneurial spirit, social responsibility, transparency and rigor.
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