Iberdrola's PPP gets grid access for 100 MW of Basque Country solar

A public-private partnership (PPP) led by Spanish utility group Iberdrola SA (BME:IBE) has secured grid access for a 100-MW solar project in the Basque Country, Iberdrola announced on Monday.

The PPP is sponsoring the Ekienea project, which, according to the utility, will be the largest solar farm in Spain’s northern region. Iberdrola is the largest shareholder in the project, with a 75% stake. Other partners are the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), the governing council of Alava province and Krean, the engineering cooperative within the Basque cooperative association Grupo Mondragon.

The PPP was formed in mid-2020 to promote the Ekienea project in Alava province.

The project will take up 200 hectares (494.2 acres) of land, half for the solar panels and the other half for environmental compensation and preservation of forest areas. Once operational, the plant will generate enough electricity to power some 47,000 people annually and triple the solar energy capacity currently installed in the Basque Country, Iberdrola said.

Iberdrola’s headquarters is in the Basque Country and the company has a number of renewable energy projects in the works there. More recently, it secured a construction permit for a 40-MW wind project developed by a separate PPP with the EVE in Alava province.

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