Spain's Endesa starts 1.7-GW journey in Aragon with new PV project

Endesa SA (BME:ELE) has started the permitting process with the department of industry of the Spanish region of Aragon, seeking approval to build a 50-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) park on the land of the Andorra thermal power plant in Teruel province.

The PV project is to kick-start the Spanish utility's plan to deploy 1,725 MW of renewable energy capacity in Aragon to compensate for lost power from the Andorra plant, which is marked for shutdown and dismantlement, Endesa said today.

The new renewables will be split between 1,585 MW of solar PV, some 140 MW of wind and 160 MW of battery storage capacity. The undertaking will be implemented in three phases, starting in January 2021 with the construction of the announced 50-MW PV park and a 49.4 MW wind farm.

In the second stage, from March 2022 to June 2023, Endesa plans to build 235 MW of PV projects and add 54.3 MW of storage.

The third and the final phase will be finalised in early 2026, when 1,300 MW of solar, 90 MW of wind and 105 MW of battery storage capacity are expected to come online, Endesa said.

Between December 2018 and 2019, the company formally requested permits to close four of its thermal power plants across Spain, among them Andorra in Aragon. Each closure will be accompanied by Endesa’s initiative called Plan Futur-e, through which it will not only push for more renewables to replace the thermal capacity, but also promote job creation and spur economic activity in the affected regions.

The company plans to completely decarbonise its power generation mix by 2050. Endesa has calculated that by 2022 it will reach 10.2 GW of renewables, up from around 7.4 GW estimated at the end of 2019. The 2020-2022 build-out will require an investment of some EUR 3.8 billion (USD 4.17bn), the utility said.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.097)

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