5th September 2011
50 MW NEW SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANT IN EXTREMADURA
March 2011 saw the inauguration of the 50 MW power plant of Majadas (Extremadura), a facility that will prevent the emission into the atmosphere of 100,000 tons of CO2 which a coal plant will normally produce annually. Idom has delivered Acciona Energy a turnkey project service with this power block; made possible through the technological development of the group and the use of advanced project management tools. Idom is now a leader in the implementation and commissioning of Solar Thermal Energy power plants (power units). Idom can now count on highly skilled multidisciplinary teams with the capacity to cover all phases of the project, including engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning. Idom is supplying turnkey services to several solar thermal power plants in Spain, all of which are 50 MW: Majadas de Tiétar (Cáceres) for Acciona Energía, Morón de la Frontera (Seville) for Ibereólica Solar Morón, Palma del Río (Córdoba) for Guzmán Energía, and Olivenza (Badajoz) for Ibereólica Solar Olivenza.
19th August 2011
THE SUCCESS OF MOBILE PHONE TECHNOLOGY IN MEXICO
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of mobile phone users in Mexico. Currently, at over 91 millions users, there has been a 9.5% growth in 2010 alone and 81% of market penetration. With a market share of 22%, Telefónica MoviStar is the second most important service provider in this market. To continue servicing this market and with a view to achieving growth, new facilities are required; one of which is the Office and Data Center Complex. This complex is knows as “Edificio Tecnológico III”. This will be a center for switching, processing, transmitting and storing data. Idom has been awarded the contract as Project Manager (PM) during the construction of this complex, presenting the firm the opportunity to implement international best practice standards; in preparation to face challenges such as the simultaneousness in the execution of the project; meeting of fixed deadlines; independent delivery of separate working sections of the complete project (with a view to accelerating the initiation of operations); flexibility of the project to allow for future upgrades; compliance with strict conditions of thermal and sound insulation of the data processing facilities and high technology housing facilities. All this in a period of 3 years.
19th August 2011
TRANSFORMING RIO JANEIRO FAVELAS
IDOM’s proposal of coexisting spaces for living, relaxation and sports integration won one of the 174 available spots in the contest held by the Institute for Architects in Brazil (IAB).
With the upcoming 2014 World Soccer Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil is focused in the preparations for these magnificent events. Rio de Janeiro, one of the host cities, decided to revamp the low-income neighborhoods, known as “favelas”, integrate them into the city’s panoramic and proving them with public services and a better architectural design.
The Institute of Architects in Brazil (IAB), decided to hold a contest to remodel 215 “favelas” and regroup them in 40 neighborhoods. They selected 174 projects with an ambitious budget of 4,900 millions of dollars. IDOM’s proposal integrates an architectural solution with innovative design to social management.
18th August 2011
BLACK HOLES, DISTANT STARS AND GALAXIES
The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is an ambitious Spanish project, led by the Institute for Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, to build one of the largest and most advanced telescopes in the world at the Observatory Roque de Los Muchachos (island of Palma). At this observatory, the conditions are optimal for observation due to the quality of the sky. With the telescope, one may learn more about black holes, the most distant stars and galaxies in the universe and the initial conditions behind the Big Bang, among other fields of astrophysics. IDOM is responsible for the design, manufacturing, assembly and commissioning of the two Folded Cassegrain Sets for the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC). Each set is composed of an Instrument Rotator -for scientific instruments up to 1000 kg- and the Acquisition & Guidance Optics. This system provides a rotation range of 530º, a positioning accuracy better than 13 arc seconds or 16 microns, and a maximum speed of 15º/s. In autumn 2010, the Critical Design Review (CDR) was carried out and, after approval, the manufacturing and procurement of the different components of the system started. This project is expected to be finished in summer 2011 after the assembly, integration and verification of the two units is performed.