Iberdrola launches the largest photovoltaic plant in Europe

The energy company concludes in a record time the start-up of the Núñez de Balboa project - the largest photovoltaic plant in Europe - whose construction was completed in one year, in December last year.

The largest photovoltaic plant in Europe went into operation this past Monday at 12 noon, feeding its first MWh of clean energy into the power grid.

• Núñez de Balboa - with an installed power of 500 megawatts (MW) and an investment of nearly 300 million euros - is located between the municipalities of Usagre, Hinojosa del Valle and Bienvenida in the province of La Paz. The plant, promoted with the collaboration of Ecoenergias del Guadiana, is an emblematic renewable project that has broken records.
• Millions of components: installation of 1,430,000 solar panels, 115 inverters and two substations, which have required a total of 3,200 containers. 
• Employment generation: involvement of more than 1,200 workers during peak periods, 70% of whom are from Extremadura. 
• A driving force behind the industrial fabric: its construction has contributed to the development of the value chain, with purchases from some thirty suppliers -many of them local- valued at 227 million euros.  
• Agent against the climate change: the plant will generate clean energy to supply the needs of 250,000 people/year - population equivalent to Cáceres and Badajoz - and will avoid the emission to the atmosphere of 215,000 tons of CO2 per year. 
• Project with green funding: Iberdrola has received green funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Official Credit Institute (ICO) for its development. 
• Promoter of sustainable consumption: a pioneer in Spain, through long-term power purchase agreements (PPA), the project will supply clean energy to large customers committed to sustainable consumption in the banking, telecommunications and distribution sector.
• Education and training in renewables: Iberdrola, Usagre City Council and the Mancomunidad de Llerena are collaborating in the training of students at the Campiña Sur Vocational School in Extremadura, with training visits to the site and practical work at the plant. 

Iberdrola has put Extremadura at the centre of its renewable energy strategy in Spain, where it plans to install more than 2,000 MW of photovoltaic capacity by 2022. Following the start-up of Núñez de Balboa (500 MW), the company has more than 1,300 MW of renewables underway in six photovoltaic projects: Francisco Pizarro (590 MW), located in Torrecillas de la Tiesa; Ceclavín (328 MW), in Alcántara; Arenales (150 MW), in Cáceres; Campo Arañuelo I, II and III (150 MW), in the Almaraz region; and Majada Alata and San Antonio (50 MW each), in Cedillo. In this area, it also has 300 MW with access to the network for the projection of another photovoltaic project.

Iberdrola plans to begin construction shortly on Campo Arañuelo (Arañuelo I, II and III), with a capacity of 150 MW. Its development will generate up to 200 jobs in its construction and will have a high level of local involvement, as the engineering and environmental work is being carried out by the Extremadura company Ecoenergías del Guadiana and the power transformers will be supplied by Faramax. The project also includes an energy storage system, using an innovative.

Iberdrola's plan to relaunch investment in renewable energies in Spain includes the installation of 3,000 new MW by 2022. By 2030, the company plans to install 10,000 new MW. These actions will create jobs for 20,000 people.

In Spain, Iberdrola is the leader in renewable energy, with installed wind power capacity of more than 6,000 MW and more than 16,000 MW of renewables; a volume that amounts to nearly 32,000 MW worldwide, making its generation park one of the cleanest in the energy sector.

Iberdrola's commitment to a decarbonised economic model has led it to commit investments of around 10 billion per year in renewable energies, intelligent electricity distribution networks and storage technologies, after having earmarked 100 billion since 2001. Of these, 25 billion have been invested in Spain.