Ellomay’s 300 MW solar project in Spain secures final approval

Spain’s General Directorate of Energy policy and Mines has released final authorization for a 300 MW solar power plant that Israel-based solar company Ellomay Ltd. is planning to build in the Spanish municipality of Talaván near Cáceres, in the southern region of Extremadura.

According to the Spanish official journal, the special purpose company that has submitted the project, Talasol Solar, S.L., is complying with the legal, technical and financial requirements to build the facility. Together with the installation of the power plant, the authority has also authorized the construction of a 400/30 kV substation and a 23.7 km-long 400/30 kV high-voltage line for the connection of the facility to the local grid.

The permit from the National State Administration was the required final step for the implementation of the project, after the securing of the approval from Spain’s Ministry of Energy, Tourism and the Digital Agenda in late June.

Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment had granted its authorization for the project in late 2014. Gehrlicher Solar España, the Spanish unit of German developer Gehrlicher Solar, which filed for insolvency in July 2013, signed an agreement with the government of Extremadura for the large-scale solar plant in March 2012. At the time, the German company said it hoped to build the plant in three years and start its construction in the second half of 2013. Initially, the project was planned to have a capacity of 250 MW, but Gerhlicher announced it intended to raise it to 300 MW in April 2012.

Ellomay agreed to acquire Talasol Solar, S.L. in May of this year. The company was acquired through a share purchase agreement at a price of €10 million ($10.9 million). Ellomay said at the time the agreement was subject to several customary conditions, including receipt of certain regulatory approvals and entry into certain material agreements.

Several projects such as the Talaván projects were announced across several southern regions in Spain over the past few years. All of these projects were originally conceived to sell power to the local grid at market prices, but these could now eventually compete in Spain’s upcoming renewable energy auction, which will be held on July 26.