The tower is the first in a pair of solar power generation plants to be built that will produce more than 300MW by 2013, enough to cover all of Seville’s electricity needs.

Boasting a world first design, the plant comprises a ‘saturated steam cavity receiver’ installed in a 115m concrete tower surrounded by 64,624 sun tracking mirrors (heliostats), each with a surface area of 121 square metres.

The rows of mirrors focus their reflected beams to the receiver and a collection of water pipes at the top of the tower. Heating the water pipes creates steam, which leads to turbines and puts out 11MW at peak.

According to the project’s operator, Spanish energy company Abengoa S.A, the plant can withstand temperatures up to 1000 °C.

Construction has just begun on the Seville PV plant adjacent to the thermal tower, which is expected to be the largest low concentration system photovoltaic plant in Europe.

Partly financed with European Union funds, the entire project requires an investment of €1.2 billion ($A1.9 billion).

Abengoa said power is three times more expensive to produce at the thermal plant than conventional sources. But it said power generation would become cheaper at subsequent plants, as with wind power.

Also last week, the European Commission published a map of the solar power potential of Europe. The map is produced by the Photovoltaic Geographical Information System of the Joint Research Centre, which includes an interactive service allowing users to calculate the solar power potential of any location in Europe.

For example, a solar system in sunny areas of Europe, such as Malta and Southern Spain, would generate twice the energy than an identical one in areas such as Scotland or northern Scandinavia.