Iberdrola Builds 500 MW PV Record Plant in Spain

Bilbao, Spain –Iberdrola plans to install another 2,000 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind power in the region Extremadura in Western Spain by 2022, thus placing this region right in the middle of its European renewable strategy.

The announcement was made by the group's Chairman, Ignacio Galán, during the groundbreaking ceremony which saw the first solar panel installed at the Núñez de Balboa photovoltaic (PV) plant in Usagre (Badajoz). Also in attendance was the President of Extremadura regional Government, Guillermo Fernández Vara, and other local authorities. With an installed capacity of 500 MW installed capacity the plant is the largest photovoltaic project under construction in Spain and Europe.

According to Iberdrola, this move is the result of the company's plan to reactivate clean energy in Spain, where the company will invest 8 billion Euro between 2018 and 2022, and commission up to 10,000 megawatts by 2030; plans which were recently presented at its Strategic Outlook update in London. The projects under development in Extremadura and the rest of Spain form part of the 34 billion Euro global investments that Iberdrola will make between 2018 and 2022.

“This plan will allow us to create jobs for 20,000 people, nearly 10 times the number currently working in our company on traditional power generation,” explained the Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán.

In this plant, scheduled to be commissioned in 2020, Iberdrola will invest some 300 million Euro and will create up to 1,000 construction jobs. Local companies, such as Ecoenergías del Guadiana, Imedexsa, Cubillana, Elaborex and the Instituto Aeronáutico will also participate in this project.

As Ignacio Galán explained, the Núñez de Balboa plant will occupy nearly 1,000 hectares surface area and will generate enough clean power to supply 250,000 people, which is more than the population of the cities of Cáceres and Badajoz combined.

Source: IWR Online, 26 Mar 2019