The demonstration that solar thermal energy has an enormous potential for application in industrial processes is the Contank solar plant project in Castellbisbal (Barcelona), which began operation in March 2005.  AIGUASOL was commissioned for the engineering project and the construction supervision and getting the installation running.

Contank (Parking Service Castellbisbal SA, Castellbisbal. Barcelona) is a company dedicated to cleaning liquid freight containers that are transported by truck or train.  The washing process demands most of the heat in the activity cycle of the company and they chose the option of integrating solar heat for preheating the water, due to the lower temperature level, which guarantees maximum solar production and because the quantity of heat needed was to a good extent that which could be produced by installing a solar system covering the available roofing.

The solar system is made up of two collector fields with a thermal potential of 360kW and a net collection are of 510m2 and a 40 m3 non-pressurized storage tank.  The net annual thermal production is 429MWh (841kWh/m2) obtaining a 21.55% savings over conventional energy sources. The solar plant incorporates an internet based monitoring system which allows instant localization of any incident as well as the supervision of the correct production parameters.