Commercial operation begins at 247 MW solar project in Spain

Lightsource bp has powered up and began commercial operation of its 247MWp photovoltaic solar project Vendimia in Zaragoza, Spain. The total power output will be supplied to bp’s European power trading team under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Around 615,000 bifacial solar panels have been installed, over 650 hectares of land on multi-row tracker technology enabling the panels to follow the sun, maximising energy generation efficiency. It will Produce green electricity equivalent of powering over 107,000 local homes. In addition, two overhead transmission lines at 18km and 20km were constructed to efficiently deliver the solar power into the local network.

Felipe Arbelaez, senior vice president for zero carbon energy bp said: “It’s fantastic to see the safe start-up of this first project in Spain, and for Lightsource bp to achieve an impressive 3GW pipeline in just two years. Through disciplined investment and safe execution, we are delighted to see the next chapter of bp’s energy story in Spain come online. This project is also a great example of the power of bp’s integration capabilities as our expert power trading team will offtake the power generated, supporting the financial stability of the project and meeting bp’s strict returns threshold.”

The construction process was handled by Lightsource bp’s appointed contractor, Prodiel (an Andalusian EPC company) and over 600 local jobs were created during that time. Prodiel will continue to maintain the solar cluster under an Operations & Maintenance agreement for the next two years. The project is financed by NatWest, Intesa Sanpaolo, Santander and Bankinter.