Hydro Aluminum supplies extrusions solar arrays for power plants

Hydro Aluminum's Extrusion Americas unit will supply custom extrudedaluminum to two new thermal solar facilities currently under construction inSpain. Hydro Aluminum is supplying the extruded materials for use in the troughframes to the Palma del Rio II solar power plant, located in southern Spain,and the Majadas plant in Extremadura, east of Madrid. Hydro will ship nearly 15 million lb of aluminum for the two projectsduring a 10-month window. Both facilities are being built by Acciona, aSpanish energy company. Hydro's extruded aluminum frames will be produced inthe company's Phoenix, Arizona, plant and fabricated at its Guaymas, Mexico,facility. The frames will be assembled on site in Spain. Hydro is manufacturing the frame components, support beams, clips andconnectors for the arrays. Each frame is about 26 feet long and 12 feet high,holding parabolic mirrors that work with a computer-controlled system to trackthe sun. The mirrors focus the sun's rays on a tube filled with heat-transferfluid. The heated liquid generates steam, driving a turbine that createselectricity. ---Washington (Platts)