Another solar PPA announced in Spain

Spain’s electric utility Iberdrola has secured a long-term PPA for its 391 MW Planta Solar Núñez de Balboa, from Spanish and Basque country-based telecoms company Euskatel.

Bilbao-based Iberdrola has not revealed the length of the deal, but said the PPA will provide “stability for investments made by energy providers, whilst guaranteeing a reliable supply for major energy consumers at competitive and predictable prices”.

The energy company said this is the first PPA signed between a power company and a telecoms operator in Spain.

The deal is the second PPA the company has secured for Núñez de Balboa. The first was signed with financial services provider Kutxabank in July.

“This contract will allow the Kutxabank Group to exclusively consume this type of renewable electricity in all its facilities and bank branches, distributed throughout Spain,” Iberdrola stated at the time.

The PV project is being built in the municipality of Usagre, in the province of Badajoz, in Spain’s, southern Extremadura region. Originally conceived by Spanish developer Grupo Eco in 2012, Planta Solar Núñez de Balboa will include construction of a substation with a 30/400 kV capacity and a 12.3km, 400 kV transmission line. According to a document published in the country’s official journal, the solar plant is expected to produce around 850 GWh per year.

Spanish solar association UNEF says – excluding the deal now announced by Iberdrola – around 1.5 GW of private PPAs for large-scale projects have been sealed in the country.