Repsol buys 264 MW solar project in southern Spain

Spain-based oil provider, Repsol has acquired Valdesolar Hive, a special purpose company, which owns a 264 MW solar power project in Valdecaballeros, in the Spanish southern region of Extremadura, for approximately €210 million.

According to the Spanish financial media, including Expansión, which was the first to report the transaction, the project still needs to obtain several administrative and environmental permits.

According to a document published in Spain’s official journal in July, the project will use 775,750 solar modules and 13.375 trackers, and include the construction of a 400 KV transmission line. Construction costs are estimated to be around €164.7 million.

If built, the solar facility will be the third largest in Extremadura, after the Núñez de Balboa (500 MW) and Talaván (300 MW) projects.

Valdesolar Hive is a unit of U.K. developer, Hive Energy, which has a big PV project pipeline in Spain. In March, the company told pv magazine it owned 14 solar projects totaling 896 MW, which have already secured grid approval from Spain’s grid operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE); and a solar pipeline totaling over 20 projects, on which planning and construction is scheduled to begin over the next two years. Later in July, it revealed its Spanish solar project portfolio had reached 1.5 GW.

Repsol, meanwhile, announced its intention to invest in renewable energies in mid-May. “The group is analyzing alternatives to fight the increase in global temperature, betting on an effective strategy with the lowest possible cost for citizens,” said the oil giant at the time.

In July, it also announced a partnership with Spanish energy company and European transmission system operator, Enagás, under which they will produce renewable hydrogen.

Despite these new development, Repsol made it clear in all of its statements on this new strategy that gas will remain one of the key pillars of its energy transition.