Oil & Gas Major Cepsa to Build 400 MW of Solar Projects in Spain

Spanish oil and gas major Cepsa has announced that it will be building three new solar power projects in Castilla-La Mancha of Spain. Cepsa said that the total capacity of the three farms will be 400 MW.

Cepsa will develop the solar projects in the towns of Campo de Criptana and Arenales de San Gregorio (Ciudad Real) with an investment of more than EUR280 million. The construction of the solar power projects is expected to begin in 2025.

The solar projects will be generating about 840 GWh of power annually once they are put in operation. Cepsa said that this much of energy is equivalent to one third of the residential power demand of Castilla-La Mancha.

Also, the Town Councils of both Arenales de San Gregorio and Campo de Criptana have authorized the scheme of things with Cepsa to amalgamate it with the ‘Sumamos Energías’ programme that promotes the local economy, climate and environment.

Gerónimo de Angulo, Director, Dearrollo Renovable, Cepsa, who will also oversee the development of the solar power projects, said, “Castilla-La Mancha is a strategic area for the development of Cepsa’s renewable resource portfolio, which will enable us to drive our Positive Motionstrategy. He added, “We are most likely to advance the decarbonization of our activity, while generating a positive influence on the environment, based on the DNA that defines us: production of shared value, listening to the public as well as developing long-term relationships based on dependence.”

Cepsa is working on the development of nine renewable energy projects of combined capacity of 1200 MW with an investment of over EUR 840 million.

Spain looks to hit its target of 160 GW of renewable energy by 2030 mainly as the country has strong solar irradiance owing to its geographical location. In September, Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) said that the solar power capacity of Spain had already reached more than 17 GW bypassing hydropower.