Spanish oil giant begins work on its first solar plant

From pv magazine Spain

Spanish oil and gas provider Repsol has started construction work on the 126 MW Kappa PV plant located in the municipality of Manzanares, near Ciudad Real, in the southern region of Castile-La Mancha.

The €100 million project will be built across three phases – 45 MW, 45 MW and 36 MW, respectively – by the company’s energy unit Repsol Electricidad y Gas.

It is one of seven renewable energy projects that Repsol currently has underway on the Iberian Peninsula, and the second to start construction in Spain. The first was a wind farm in Aragon.

The company added that construction on its around €200 million, 264 MW Valdesolar (Badajoz) solar PV project, will commence in the coming weeks.

Repsol has four other renewable projects underway – one photovoltaic plant, two onshore wind farms, and a floating offshore wind farm – the latter of which involves a consortium comprised of EDPR, Engie and Principle Power.

Overall, renewable assets under development have a cumulative capacity of 2,045 MW, while the company has an operational power generation capacity of 2,952 MW.

At the beginning of this year, Repsol launched Solmatch, the first large solar community in Spain. It is a new service based on a 100% renewable energy model, with encourages distributed generation across the country. With this model, energy generation is brought closer to the point of consumption by designing solar communities in urban centers.

Moreover, the group launched Solify last year, a comprehensive photovoltaic energy self-generation solution for individuals and companies that offer 100% renewable energy.

Repsol established a renewable energy subsidiary, Repsol Renovables, in October 2019. The unit plans to have 4.5 GW of clean energy generation capacity in 2025.