Europe has gained a new source of renewable energy with the inauguration of the continent's first-ever "power tower" at the centre of a field of mirrors near the southern Spanish town of Sanlúcar la Mayor.

The 115-metre-high tower (377ft) is the key element in what is being hailed as the world's first-ever commercial power tower plant. Rings of huge mirrors laid out around it reflect and focus the sun's power, beaming it back up to the top of the tower where the intense heat is absorbed and transmitted to a steam-driven generator.