Beroa hosted last February 11th in its Karrena facilities in Ratingen the first symposium on Power Towers. The symposium had been organized by Hermann Bottenbruch, former president of CICND, the International Association of Chimney Engineers.

The Power Towers are a method of producing electricity based on the solar energy. The heat of the sun warms the air below a greenhouse that is channeled to a chimney passing through turbines that generate the electricity. In order to achieve big-scale stations capable of producing up to 200MW the sizes of the greenhouse and of the chimney are challenging. The first should cover an area of 40 sqkm while the tower should reach 1500m.

This technology has additional benefits to produce clean energy based on solar power. They could also provide for employment in the region they would be erected, over the thousands according to calculations by Mr. Stinnes for each location. His approach includes fabrication of glass, cement and the use part of the structure as a greenhouse to cultivate food.

This methodology for generating electricity is not new, Prof Schlaich had a test plant built in 1980 in Spain, and it successfully ran for nine years. The challenge that this technology faces currently is the amount of investment it requires to build a large power station calculated at from €30m for a 5 MW station to €750m for a 200VW station.

Dr. Bottenbruch, former major shareholder and CEO of Beroa’s subsidiary Karrena and close friend of its actual chairman has the strong believe that this technology could be the solution for the energy requirements of much of the world: areas with strong sun radiation. The fact that this technology does not require almost any running costs can make it attractive for developing countries that do not have oil. Dr Bottenbruch proposed CICIND, the International Association of Chimney Engineers, to assist in bringing together all the experts who are working worldwide in the power towers sector. He asked Beroa for assistance and we offered the facilities in the Karrena Headquarters to host the symposium. The event proved to be a hot issue, as more than 70 experts coming from all around the world gathered in Ratingen. The attendees were well respected scientists, among them seven university Professors of high international recognition.

During the working sessions, issues such as the efficiency of the technology, the different design and construction methods for the tower, additional improvements to the technology, the type and design of the turbines required and the required finite element studies were discussed.

As a conclusion, the community could conclude that a vast number of studies and hours had been dedicated to the technology, bringing it from the theoretical phase to a pre- developed one. The challenge remains finding the right financing to prove the effectiveness of the Power Towers.

Beroa has a commitment to technologies that can deliver efficiency with a better footprint on the environment and therefore will continue to support ideas that can bring forward the Power Tower. And in the near future we’ll be prepared to develop projects with these characteristics.