Spanish Provider Signs Record PPA in Solar Sector

Barcelona, Spain - Audax Renovables S.A. has concluded with Welink Investment Holdings (Ireland) Ltd. an agreement that marks an important milestone in the European energy market of energy produced with photovoltaic solar technology.

The framework power purchase agreement (PPA) with Welink has been established for 20 years at a fixed price and Audax will acquire the energy produced by the photovoltaic plant of Solara4, by Ourika and by other new photovoltaic projects that will be developed by Welink Group, both in Spain and in Portugal, with a forecast of reaching a total of 708 MW of installed power. Solara4 is being constructed in the Portuguese village of Alcoutim (Algarve), and is expected to be connected to the grid by mid-2019. After its construction is completed, Solara4 will be made up of 700,000 high-efficiency solar modules and will be the largest unsubsidised solar power station in Europe, based on a private long-term PPA. The 218.8 MWp capacity of the Solara4 photovoltaic plant will offer an average of 300 jobs during its construction and will produce enough energy to supply more than 100,000 households.

Part of this facility is the Ourika photovoltaic plant, located in Southern Portugal, developed by Welink Group and also represented by Audax Renovables. According to Auday its capacity amounts to 46 MWp and occupies the surface equivalent to 100 football fields, with more than 142,000 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels and with a production capacity of 82 GWh / year, which currently makes it the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Portugal.

As Audax points out, the PPA shall contribute to the consolidation of the leadership of Audax Renovables S.A. on the European market, and also in Portuguese electricity market, on which the company stands out as the sixth energy supplier to small businesses and the seventh supplier to industrial clients, according to the Deregulated Electricity Market Report of December 2018, published by ERSE, Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos.

The agreement will cover a large part of the energy that Audax needs for his customers in Portuguese market, where its clients will receive 100% renewable energy, entirely greenhouse gas emissions-free, which will contribute to the protection of the natural environment. At a global level, the amount of energy covered by PPA is equivalent to only 25% of the total energy sold by Audax Group.

Source: IWR Online, 15 Feb 2019