BayWa r.e. plans 175 MW solar project in southern Spain

The mayor of the Spanish municipality of Alcalá de Guadaíra, Ana Isabel Jiménez and the CEO of BayWa r.e. Solar Projects, Benedikt Ortmann have signed an agreement for the construction of a 175 MW solar power plant in the town’s territory.

According to a press release issued by the municipality, the project will have a required investment of around €102 million and will include the construction of a 220 kV transmission line.

The project, which will be named Don Rodrigo and will implemented by the special purpose vehicle Sunshine Latin, has already been granted approval by the local administration.

Furthermore, the facility will be exempt from paying 95% of the local construction tax, while the developer has committed to hire mainly workforce from the area for the project. The company believes that around 275 direct and indirect jobs will be created thanks to the project’s construction, which is expected to be started “very soon”, the municipality stressed.

The municipality said the solar facility will help the region of Andalucía become an exporter of power and ensure a reliable power supply, without specifying if the project is being developed for the spot market, the private PPA segment, or the country’s auction mechansim.

In a statement to pv magazine, however, a company spokesperson said that talks are currently being held with a potential client for a long-term PPA. As pv magazine reported in January of last year, the plant may sell power at €0.038/kWh.

Several projects of this kind were announced and approved at several stages by local and national authorities in Spain over the past years. To date, however, only one project appears to have entered an implementation phase, the 300 MW Talasol project owned by Israeli developer Ellomay, for which the company secured a financial hedge in late January.