• Ibersolar to join ICP
• Transforming waves into electricity
• New Iberdrola plant in Oregon
• Q & A with CARLOS VIVAS of Secartys
• Acciona Energy invests in US wind parks
• Abengoa awarded R&D contracts
• Biomass from algae
• World’s first hydrogen-powered vending machine

• Baby offers genetic hope to brother
• Toll road projects in North America
• Befesa becomes majority shareholder of NRS
• Sener to design missile control system
• Solar Power International Conference and EXPO 2008
• Maryland biotech hub visit
• Spanish packaging innovation at PACKEXPO

eNewsletter Receives Makeover

The Trade Commission of Spain has improved the look and feel of our monthly e-newsletter to better reflect our focus on technology and to make it easy for you to find the information that interests you most.

Spain Tech (formerly Spain Biz) will showcase Spain-based companies at the forefront of research and innovation, developing sustainable technologies that positively impact the way we live and work. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to register to receive our free e-newsletter at www.spaintechnology.com. And let us know what you think about the new look by e-mailing us at chicago@mcx.es.

Thanks to the quality of their photovoltaic cells, solar thermal systems and absorption units, Spain-based Ibersolar Energía has gained leader status in Europe and has recently become an acquisition target for larger corporations to continue their growth strategy. ICP Solar Technologies, a Canadian developer, manufacturer and marketer of solar panels and products, announced their interest to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Ibersolar on October 21. Since the announcement the parties formally agreed to enter into a mutually profitable, definitive-share purchase contract. More...

The Spain-based R&D corporation, Tecnalia, and Iberdrola the Spanish energy production and distribution company, have designed and installed the first prototype for producing wave energy in Spain. Located in Pasaia, on the coast of the Basque region in northern Spain, the device is a result of the Oceantec initiative, a business project based on using the sea as a renewable energy source. More...

On October 6, 2008, Iberdrola Renewables opened a wind power facility in Wasco, Oregon.  The new project, named Klondike III, consists of 176 turbines and generates power for a wide range of regional energy distributors, such as Bonneville Power Administration, Eugene Water & Power Board and Puget Sound Energy. More...

Q & A with CARLOS VIVAS, General Manager of Secartys
“The United States provides a whole “ocean” of opportunities for Spanish companies.”

With approximately 300 members representing more than 1,200 industries, Secartys is Spain's world resource in electronics, telecommunications, audiovisual and solar energy. Created in 1968 as a nonprofit and voluntary business group, today represents up to 80 percent of SMEs exports in Spanish technology. The following is a conversation with Carlos Vivas, general manager of the association, about what Spain's most innovative companies can offer the U.S. market. More...

Acciona Energy will set up two wind parks in Illinois and Oklahoma by the end of 2008. When completed, they will have a total capacity of 223.5 megawatts (MW), distributed in 149 turbines. The parks at Red Hills in Oklahoma and EcoGrove in Illinois, will have required an investment of approximately $495 million, and will jointly produce clean energy equivalent to the consumption of more than 65,000 US homes. More...

On September 30, the US Department of Energy announced the award of two Research & Development (R&D) projects in the field of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and thermal storage systems to the Spanish energy specialist, Abengoa Solar. CSP technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto receivers that collect the solar energy and convert it to heat. More...

Green Fuel Technologies, a US-based algae bioreactors manufacturer, is expanding its $92 million Spain-based project by building new facilities near Jerez, in the southern Andalucía region. In conjunction with Spanish renewable energy firm, Aurantia, Green Fuel plans to produce 25,000 tons of algae biomass per year on the future 100,000-hectare farm. The project began in 2007 with a field assessment unit which successfully grew a variety of naturally occurring algae strains using flue gases. More...

Jofemar presents the world’s first hydrogen powered vending machine in St. Louis

Environmental friendliness was a big selling point at the recently held NAMA National Vending Expo, with equipment options ranging from lower-energy lighting to the world first autonomously powered vending machine that runs on hydrogen, by the Spanish company Jofemar. More...

A Spanish infant who was born through stem cell screening could help save his six-year-old brother who suffers from a congenital form of anemia. Doctors in the Genetics, Reproduction and Fetal Medicine Unit of the University Hospital Virgen del Rocío of Sevilla, Andalucía, will use stem cells derived from his umbilical cord for a bone marrow transplant on their older child. More...

The Spain-based building firm, ACS has been selected by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in Florida to lead a Spanish company-conglomerate that will carry out the expansion of Interstate 595, the first major public-private partnership (PPP) project in the southern state.  Once the contract is executed, the team will be asked to completely finance, design and build the $1.8 billion project over a five-year period beginning in June 2009, then operate the road until 2044. More...

Befesa, a Spain-based industrial waste and water management company, announced on October 13 the agreement to acquire, through its water treatment subsidiary, 51 percent of NRS Consulting Engineers, a US company specializing in the design and construction of water plants. More...

Spain-based Sener and Germany-based Diehl BGT Defence (DBD) have signed an agreement allowing the Spanish company to design the IRIS-T Surface-to-Air missile’s control system. This missile will be integrated as a complementary weapon to the Patriot PAC-3 in the multinational MEADS antiaircraft defense program under contract with the German Defense Ministry. More...

Solar Power International Conference and Expo 2008 is a Success

“This is without doubt one of the biggest and the best conferences in the United States. I attended the same conference in San Jose in 2006 and was amazed to see how much it has grown. Since 2006, the size of the show has at least doubled,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This conference is the showcase of an industry whose time has really come,” he continued, summarizing the success of Solar Power International Conference and Expo 2008 in held October 13-16 in San Diego, California. More...

Spanish companies visit biotech hub in Maryland

Four Spain-based biotechnology companies visited the United States from October 6 through 10, in a mission organized by the Trade Commission of Spain in Chicago and the Chamber of Commerce of Bilbao, the main city in Spain’s northern Basque region. Histocell, Noray Bioinformatics, Pharmakine and Midatech Biogune had the chance to visit American science and R&D institutions in Maryland’s biotech hubs: John Hopkins University, Rockville Innovation Center, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Germantown Innovation Center, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), University of Maryland Bio Park, John Hopkins Science and Technology Park and Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development. More...

Spanish Packaging Innovation Displayed at PACKEXPO 2008

From November 9 through 14, 20 Spanish companies in the packaging sector participated as exhibitors in PACKEXPO 2008, in Chicago. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about the latest Spanish packaging technology innovations in the Spanish pavilion under the umbrella of Envasgraf, the Spanish Packaging, Bottling, Cardboard and Printing Equipment Association The pavilion featured equipment and system designers and manufacturers including, Antonio Mengibar, Bossar, Comexi, Elocom, Mespack, Posimat, Prodec, Progalsa, Tedelta, ULMA Packaging, United Barcode Systems and Varpe. In addition, Spain-based Lloveras, Effytec, Inever, Volpak, Macsa, E2M, Pupar and the Spanish-American partnership, Valco-Melton were also present on the show floor in independent booths.

Click Packexpo 08 to learn more.

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