MADRID, March 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- With a 600 million euro investment, these are the first two solar projects of a total of 8 which the company plans to build and operate in Spain

GRUPO IBEREOLICA continues its plan on the development of its viable renewable energy projects. Following its strategy to partner with leading groups interested in co-investing in its portfolio of clean and renewable energy projects, GRUPO IBEREOLICA has signed an agreement with INVERAVANTE, a leading privately owned Energy, Finance, and Real Estate conglomerate with worldwide presence, based in La Coruna, Spain, which has taken a 50% stake in two SPV project companies from GRUPO IBEREOLICA for the construction and operation of two CSP solar thermal power plants in Seville and Badajoz. The plants which will commence construction immediately and cost around 600 Million Euros have all permits and authorisations, utilize the parabolic through technology and produce 50MW each. They are also prepared for future upgrading to salt storage and biomass hybridisation in order to increase production significantly during the night. Additionally, the agreement contemplates for Inveravante to replicate the same mechanism on two additional plants.

With this agreement, GRUPO IBEREOLICA consolidates itself in the worldwide solar thermal panorama, betting strongly in favour of this technology, which in addition of being able to produce clean and renewable energy that can be regulated for full grid integration, also has a very large potential with regards to improving its cost, efficiency, and storage for night time production. All these benefits will make solar thermal one of the fastest growing energy technologies worldwide. These plants also provide an important creation of employment in normally depressed areas creating value where it is most needed, employing at least 1,000 workers during construction, and 50 during operation.

GRUPO IBEREOLICA, based in Madrid, Spain is a privately owned renewable utility with more than 15 years experience in the renewable energy business, and a proven track record. Its team of more than 100 engineers design, optimize, operate, and maintain all of its power plants which currently consist of mini-hydroelectric dams, almost 200MW of working wind farms, and a short-term 1,000MW pipeline of Solar thermal and wind projects which Ibereolica plans to start constructing during 2009 and 2010. Ibereolica also participates in RD to improve control and grid integration of wind turbines, and to explore alternative solutions for efficient renewable energy and hydrogen production.

INVERAVANTE Main Energy Projects: These actions form part of the Avantegenera sector's activities - the corporate area responsible for the development of projects at different stages of development, related to the energy sector all over the world, but especially in Spain, South America, USA, Morocco and emerging Europe.

Its goal is to boost a strong division in the energy field through agreements with local partners, mainly by purchasing or developing assets in order to become the energy company par excellence in Galicia. Total investment foreseen in this area for 2011 is 1,200 million Euros.

In the field of oil exploration and production, it drives its business through oil companies Vetra Energy, based in Venezuela and purchased in July 2007, and Petrotesting, headquartered in Columbia and incorporated last December. Recently, a field in Columbia has been obtained, the award of another one in Ecuador has been signed and an exploration well in the southern United States has been successfully drilled. Over the next three years the company resulting from the merger expects to double managed production and have proven reserves exceeding the equivalent of 100 million barrels oil.

INVERAVANTE also plans to build two hydraulic power stations in Panama in the coming months, and has recently laid the first stone of wind farms in parks of Matafongo and Granadillo in the Dominican Republic, in the presence of the country's President, Leonel Fernandez Reyna.

Information:

INVERAVANTE is the corporation founded in early 2007 by businessman Manuel Jove Capellan. Inveravante acts in different activities: Investment (avantecapita); energy (avantegenera); real estate (avantespacia) and a fourth area, avanteselecta, which compounds investments in food and agriculture (fundamentally wine, cheese, and oil). Additionally the corporation has an area of wealth.

IBEREOLICA is a private group of corporations founded in 1996 and dedicated to promote, build and exploit renewable energy projecs. It concentrates primarily in Wind and Solar thermal enrgy in Spain and has a vast engineering and technical experience in these areas.

Jose Manuel Ramos, Technical Director of IBEREOLICA. +34-915-570566, jrp@grupoibereolica.com; Belen Rey, Director of Communications at INVERAVANTE, +34-981-25-74-81, brey@inveravante.com, www.inveravante.com