News

Iberdrola has finished installing 7,800 photovoltaic modules in the solar power facility it has under construction at the Castellon Combined Cycle Plant. This is an innovative project for Spain that will see €2.3 million invested in generating 3.5 megawatts (MW) of renewable power.

Moving forward in its ambition to spearhead the energy transition in Spain and strengthen its engagement in the decarbonisation of the economy, the company will prevent 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ from being released annually once the facility is up and running, which is expected to happen by the end of this year, generating 5,500 megawatt hours per year (MWh/year) of clean energy.

The initiative is aligned with Iberdrola’s determination that electrification will leverage economic recovery and boost employment in the post-Covid scenario. So far, around fifty workers employed by different companies have played a part in the solar power plant’s construction, these include regional suppliers such as Ibérica de Aparellajes who are supplying the sectioning, delivery and measurement centres and the transformer station, and the local company Transportes y Excavaciones Vicente Prades who have been assigned to take care of the civil works to adapt the site.

The administrative authorisation to undertake these works came through in late July, and in just three months Iberdrola has quickly prepared the ground on a site that covers approximately five hectares and installed 7,800 photovoltaic modules and the infrastructure they rely on. Over the coming weeks, work will focus on positioning the converters and the electric infrastructure to supply them.

Once again, Iberdrola has chosen the Spanish region of Castellon to launch another pioneering project, as it did with the first smart grid to be set up in Spain. There are also plans to install solar power facilities at the company’s combined cycle plants in Arcos de la Frontera (Andalusia), Castejón (Navarre), Aceca (Castile-La Mancha), Castellón (Valencia region), Santurtzi (Basque Country) and Escombreras (Murcia region), which are expected to total 32.5 MW and involve an overall investment of €21 million.

In its tireless efforts to help care for the environment, this initiative will make Iberdrola’s natural gas plants more sustainable, as implementing these solar facilities would prevent 25 thousand tonnes of CO₂ from being released into the atmosphere, estimating a production of 50,000 MWh/year of clean energy from the sun. That production exceeds the energy consumed by all of the company’s combined cycle plants put together, including their equipment in terms of engines, pumps, ventilators and coolers, as well as lighting.

As Iberdrola continues its efforts to combat climate change, it will be investing €10 billion worldwide this year in projects, industrial activity throughout the value chain and innovation in areas such as renewable energy, smart grids and large-scale storage systems. The company is Spain's leader in renewable energies, with an installed wind capacity of more than 6,000 MW and over 16,500 MW in renewables as a whole; totalling more than 32,700 MW worldwide and making its generation facilities among the cleanest in the energy sector.