Spain’s Unieléctrica enters solar business with 50 MW project

Cordoba-based power trader Unieléctrica has decided to become an electricity producer, and has chosen solar to mark its entry in this challenging business.

The company, in fact, has announced the construction of a 50 MW solar power plant in the Spanish municipality of La Pedrera, in the southeastern region of Murcia, a project that is expected to provide with power its own facilities under the self-consumption regime, and to be able to generate around 100 GWh per year.

The start of commercial operations of the facility has been scheduled for 2020, the company said, without providing further technical details on the projects. It said, however, that it will be financed with own funds for a total of approximately €40 million.

The company stressed that the project is part of its expansion into the renewable energy sector, which includes the integration of Audax, another Spanish power provider, that has recently entered the PV business, awarding a PPA for 660 MW of solar to Spain’s renewable energy developer Cox Energy.

Despite the planned integration of Audax, which is currently being reviewed by Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), the La Pedrera project will be developed and financed by Unieléctrica independently, the company added.

The planned solar park can be listed among all of the “unsubsidized” big PV projects that have been announced across several regions of Spain, especially the southernmost and sunniest one, over the coming years. Although numerous business models are currently being gauged for this particular and challenging business, three main options are emerging as viable solutions: the sale of electricity to a power trader through a PPA; the sale of electricity to the spot market; and a combination of both.