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Recognition

Awards, ambassadorships and senior public engagement.

A summary of formal recognitions, public roles and selected speaking and publishing activity by Endura's founder.

IEA SolarPACES
Xavier Lara receiving the IEA SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2022.

Xavier Lara receiving the IEA SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award. Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2022.

IEA SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award

Albuquerque, New Mexico · 2022

The International Energy Agency's SolarPACES programme awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award to Xavier Lara at the closing of the SolarPACES 2022 conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The award was presented by Dr. Gilles Flamant, then Chair of SolarPACES, in recognition of sustained international leadership across concentrated solar power projects in China, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, India and Spain.

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." — Xavier Lara, acceptance speech, dedicating the award to the memory of Scott Frier.
Institutional Roles

Senior international institutional engagement.

European Commission

EU Climate Pact Ambassador

Xavier Lara serves as a European Union Climate Pact Ambassador in Spain, supporting the European Commission's engagement on climate action and the decarbonisation of the generation and industrial sectors.

Asian Development Bank

Renewable Energy International Senior Consultant

Active engagement focused on the use of concentrated solar power as a renewable energy option in Turkmenistan, in support of the Bank's renewable energy programme.

Until February 2024

Board of Directors — Ammonia Energy Association

Former member of the Board of Directors of the Ammonia Energy Association, where he chaired the workstream focused on reducing the levelized cost of green hydrogen and green ammonia through hybrid CSP-PV solutions.

Speaking & Publications

Selected speaking engagements and publications.

Speaking

  • 2022

    IEA SolarPACES 2022 Conference

    Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and closing keynote.

  • 2022

    CSP Focus China 2022

    Presented on collaboration opportunities for Chinese CSP companies in the Spanish and Greek markets.

  • 2020

    CSP Focus China 2020

    Presented on overseas project opportunities for Chinese renewable energy companies.

  • 2019

    CSP Focus China 2019

    Presented on solar field cleaning optimisation as a critical factor in the CSP production model.

  • 2019

    CSP Madrid International Solar Conference

    Speaker and session moderator at the Madrid international CSP conference.

  • 2019

    MENA New Energy 2019

    Panellist on the role of CSP in Middle Eastern and North African energy markets.

  • 2019

    COP25 Madrid

    Panellist on CSP's contribution to sustainable development at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Interviews & Publications

  • 2022

    Protermosolar interview on grid storage

    On the strategic importance of adding storage capacity from solar thermal generation to the grid.

  • 2020

    SolarPACES interview — Spain's Q4 auction

    On how Spain's Q4 auction could deliver the country's 5 GW CSP target.

  • 2020

    New Energy Update — CSP O&M markets

    On competitive dynamics in Spanish CSP operations and maintenance services.

  • ~2020

    New Energy Update — CSP financing cost

    On CSP financing costs and the role of operational performance in lowering the cost of capital.

  • ~2020

    NOOR Energy 1 — landmark CSP analysis

    Detailed analysis of the NOOR Energy 1 CSP project and its record-low CSP cost achievements.

  • pre-2018

    New Energy Update — DEWA Phase IV

    On the development of the 700 MW CSP and 250 MW PV hybrid project in Dubai.

A more complete list of speaking engagements and publications is available on request.

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