Aquila Clean Energy granted permits for 700MW Spanish solar portfolio

Renewable energy developer Aquila Clean Energy has secured construction permits for a 700MW solar PV project portfolio in Spain.

The five sites are spread across three autonomous communities – Castilla y León, Andalusia and Castilla-la Mancha – and are located near the cities of Palencia, León, Granada, Córdoba, and Toledo.

Aquila said that it will be incorporating a number of social and environmental measures at the sites to aid local flora and fauna, such as nesting boxes for birds, landscape integration with hedgerows and space for native plants and animals beneath and between the panels.

The company did not disclose the modules it plans to deploy in these Spanish projects. In July 2023, Aquila Clean Energy signed an 800MW module supply deal with major Chinese solar manufacturer Trina Solar for its project pipeline in Southern Europe.

Moreover, in September 2022 Aquila Capital – the investment firm which owns Aquila Clean Energy – secured financing to support the construction of 2.6GW of renewable energy projects in Spain and Portugal. The majority of this capacity will be solar PV, in addition to some wind projects.

Aquila claims that it currently has over 3GW of solar PV projects under development in Spain.

In July, the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITECO) approved construction permits for 25GW of solar PV capacity split across 283 projects. All of these projects are beholden to a three-year period in which they must begin commercial operations.

Spain continues to be one of Europe’s leading solar markets. As well as this positive growth signal from MITECO, the last month has seen a number of major global investors make moves in the Spanish market. Through its most recent energy transition infrastructure fund, NextPower V ESG, global investment giant NextEnergy Capital bought a 248MW Spanish solar portfolio.

Moreover, the European Investment Bank also announced a loan partnership with Matrix Renewables to support 240MW of Spanish PV. The financing will form part of the European Union’s REPowerEU scheme aimed at reducing the bloc’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and expanding renewable energy generation capacity.